French troops deployed in Niger will begin their withdrawal from the country “within the week”, Agence France-Presse learned on Thursday October 5 from the French army general staff. “We will launch the disengagement operation within the week, in good order, in security and in coordination with the Nigeriens,” said the general staff, at the end of a standoff of more than two months with the military regime resulting from the July 26 coup against President Mohamed Bazoum.
In a press release published on social networks, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP), name of the military regime in power, for its part assured that “the CNSP and the Nigerien government will be attentive to this withdrawal is done with respect for [their] interests and according to [their] conditions.”
“The 400 French soldiers based in Ouallam [West] will be the first to pack up. The Niamey air base where the majority of French soldiers are stationed will then be dismantled by the end of the year,” added the CNSP.
“The Nigerien people” will “dictate” “future relations with France,” Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of the military regime resulting from a coup in Niger, had already declared on September 30, a week after the announcement by Emmanuel Macron of the departure of the French ambassador and the tricolor troops from this Sahelian country.