US says its completed its military withdrawal from Niger

The United States military on Monday said it had completed the withdrawal of its troops and assets from Niger, meeting a 15 September deadline.

Its pull-out took place in phases, starting in May, after Niger's new leaders scrapped a military cooperation deal with Washington.

They seized power in a coup last year and in recent months, Niamey has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security.

The withdrawal of the US’ nearly 1,000 military personnel is seen as a major setback for Washington.

Prior to the coup, Niamey had been a key partner in its battle against Islamist insurgents operating in the region.

Together with France and other European countries, Washington had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training to Niger.

The US had handed over its last military bases to local authorities last month, but about two dozen soldiers had remained, largely to oversee the withdrawal.

Their departure comes amid concerns about the growing number of extremist groups operating in the West Africa region.

Groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organisation operate in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.

One of them, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, known as JNIM, is active in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and is looking to expand into Benin and Togo.