The United States has reached an agreement with Niger’s military leaders to resume flying drones and manned aircraft out of air bases in the country more than a month after a coup halted all those activities there. Since the July coup that removed President Mohamed Bazoum, the approximately 1,100 US military personnel deployed in the West African country have been confined to their military bases. “Through the diplomatic process, we are now doing, … (now) we’re doing a large amount of missions that we were doing before,” Hecker said. The bases are a critical part of America’s overall counterterrorism efforts in West Africa. West Africa recorded more than 1,800 rebel attacks in the first six months of this year, which killed nearly 4,600 people.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 16, 2023 11:32 UTC