Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Nigerien capital of Niamey demanding the departure of American forces stationed in northern part of the country.
The move came after the Nigerien authorities canceled the cooperation agreement with Washington last month which dated back to 2012.
According to Agence France-Presse, the demonstration was called by “Synergy”, a group consisting of about ten associations that support the Nigerian authorities and local Islamic organizations.
Crowds gathered in front of the headquarters of the National Assembly in central Niamey, where several figures attended, including official junta’s spokesperson Col. Amadou Abdramane.
Many students participated in the demonstration, during which the protesters chanted, “Down with American imperialism,” “Long live the Sahel coalition” (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger), and “The liberation of the people follows their path.”
After the expulsion of the French army at the end of 2023, Niger announced last March that it was abandoning “with immediate effect” a military cooperation agreement with the United States dating back to 2012, considering it “illegal.”
Niamey then confirmed that the United States would soon present a draft on the withdrawal of its soldiers. Washington did not want to comment, simply stating that it had contacted the authorities in Niger “to obtain clarification.”
It is noteworthy that about a thousand American soldiers are deployed in Niger and they have a large base for drones in Agadez in the northern country.
