U.S. to withdraw troops from Chad, Niger

WASHINGTON | Xinhua | The Pentagon has confirmed that the United States will withdraw most of its troops stationed in the African countries of Chad and Niger.

“Do we have to adjust sometimes based on the dynamics? Yes, we do,” U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown said Friday at a press conference when answering a related question.

Brown said the United States will “continue our (counter-terrorism) operations and continue our influence and work with many of the African nations that are on the continent.”

On Thursday, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder told a regular press briefing that the U.S. Africa Command is in discussion with Chadian officials about a plan to “reposition some U.S. military forces from Chad.” He said some of the forces “were already scheduled to depart.”

“This is a temporary step as part of an ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after Chad’s May 6 presidential election,” Ryder said.

On Niger, Ryder said talks were ongoing between senior officials of the United States and Niger on withdrawing U.S. troops there, with a meeting between U.S. military leaders and Chadian officials scheduled for next week “to coordinate the withdrawal process in a transparent manner and with mutual respect.”

According to U.S. media reports, the United States will pull out about 75 Army Special Forces from Chad and withdraw over 1,000 troops from Niger, under pressure from both countries — either explicitly or implicitly — to do so.

The New York Times said in a report that the move by the two countries indicated “a recent pattern by countries in the Sahel region, an arid area south of the Sahara, of breaking ties with Western countries.”