Niger says all French troops will have departed by December 22
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – The Nigerien army has announced that all French soldiers will have left Niger by December 22nd.
In a statement, the military said 1,346 French personnel and 80% of their logistics equipment have so far been disengaged from the country.
“To date, only 157 French soldiers are left on our territory, including 75 logisticians,” said the statement, which was read on national television.
Niger had hosted around 1,500 French troops as part of an international counter-insurgency force.
However, on August 3, Niger’s military leaders announced the scrapping of military agreements with France, a decision that Paris initially rubbished, citing a lack of legitimacy.
The presence of French troops has always been a cause for resentment. France held Niger and most of North Africa under colonial rule in the last century.
On July 26 this year, when Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, a former commander of the presidential guard, led a military intervention that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
French President Emmanuel Macron in September announced a gradual pullout of the French troops deployed in Niger by the end of this year following weeks of regular protests against their presence in the West African country.
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