Russian military trainers arrive in Niger as relations deteriorate with the U.S.

State television in Niger has broadcast footage of Russian military trainers arriving in the country aboard a plane equipped with security supplies.

A member of the team told the television on Thursday that their mission was to help train Nigerien forces. Niger is battling a worsening insurgency waged by jihadi linked groups.

Until now, the U.S. has trained Nigerien forces and considered the country a close and stable ally in a region swept by corps and attempted coups in recent years. But earlier this year, Niger said it no longer recognized the U.S. presence in the country. It has yet to order American troops out, however, U.S. officials have said.

The broadcast said the arrival of Russian trainers followed a call between President Vladimir Putin and the country’s military leaders, who are seeking to diversify their partnerships and achieve greater sovereignty.

The junta has largely been in control in Niger since July when mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president and months later asked French forces to leave.

The U.S. military still had some 650 troops working in Niger in December, largely consolidated at a base farther away from Niamey, Niger’s capital.

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The Niger base is critical for U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Sahel and has been used for both manned and unmanned surveillance operations, although Singh said the only drone flights being currently conducted are for force protection.

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In the Sahel the U.S. has also supported local ground troops, including accompanying them on missions. However, such accompanied missions have been scaled back since U.S. troops were killed in a joint operation in Niger in 2017.

Russia has been active in parts of Africa through its private mercenary Wagner Group, from the Central African Republic, where the mercenary forces have helped provide security services to the government, to Mali, where they are partnering with the army in battling armed rebels and where the Evkourov-led delegation also visited.

The Wagner group was one of the first sources of help that the military leaders in Niger reached out to for support as they faced a possible military intervention from West Africa’s regional bloc of ECOWAS in a bid to reverse the coup.