Niger Us

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defence official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces.

Niger's government announced on Saturday that it was breaking off "with immediate effect" its military cooperation agreement with the United States.

Niger's military rulers, who seized control of the government in July, gave the French ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, Niamey's foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.

The United States on Wednesday ordered the partial evacuation of diplomatic staff while France on Thursday asked the junta to ensure the safety of its mission and diplomatic personnel in Niamey after violent protests outside its embassy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered Niger's ousted leader Mohamed Bazoum Washington's steadfast support, and warned those detaining him that "hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance" was at risk, the State Department said Friday.

The Islamic State just released a video that allegedly shows three U.S. soldiers being attacked in Niger.

A propaganda video released by the ISIS group showing the deadly ambush of US troops in Niger raised fresh questions Monday as to the nature of the mission and why the soldiers had been left so vulnerable.

The grieving mother of a US soldier slain in an ambush in Niger reportedly said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had disrespected her son during a call he made to offer his condolences.

"Take us away from this hell," said Boussam, a mother of seven cradling skeletal goats in Niger's Assaga camp, where thousands of desperate refugees fleeing Boko Haram Islamist insurgents are living in hunger.

A Malian national who escaped from prison twice after being charged with killing a US Defense Department official and wounding a US Marine during a 2000 carjacking in Niger was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years in prison.

Despite years of intimidation by the violent extremist group Boko Haram, the people of southeastern Niger's Diffa region had never held a summit to confront the threat - perhaps with good reason.

An American woman kidnapped by masked gunmen in central Nigeria last month was released on Friday and handed over to US government officials, police told AFP.

A US drone crash-landed at Niger's main airport for unknown reasons on Monday, the US army said, forcing the closure of the runway for several hours.

The United States is preparing a possible redeployment of its drones in Niger to set up a forward base in the Sahara closer to Islamist militants blamed for attacks across the region, U.S. military and Defense Department officials said.

Human rights groups has accused the United States of breaking international law and perhaps committing war crimes by killing civilians in missile and drone strikes that were intended to hit militants in Pakistan and Yemen.

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defence official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces.

Niger's government announced on Saturday that it was breaking off "with immediate effect" its military cooperation agreement with the United States.

Niger's military rulers, who seized control of the government in July, gave the French ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, Niamey's foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.

The United States on Wednesday ordered the partial evacuation of diplomatic staff while France on Thursday asked the junta to ensure the safety of its mission and diplomatic personnel in Niamey after violent protests outside its embassy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered Niger's ousted leader Mohamed Bazoum Washington's steadfast support, and warned those detaining him that "hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance" was at risk, the State Department said Friday.

The Islamic State just released a video that allegedly shows three U.S. soldiers being attacked in Niger.

A propaganda video released by the ISIS group showing the deadly ambush of US troops in Niger raised fresh questions Monday as to the nature of the mission and why the soldiers had been left so vulnerable.

The grieving mother of a US soldier slain in an ambush in Niger reportedly said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had disrespected her son during a call he made to offer his condolences.

"Take us away from this hell," said Boussam, a mother of seven cradling skeletal goats in Niger's Assaga camp, where thousands of desperate refugees fleeing Boko Haram Islamist insurgents are living in hunger.

A Malian national who escaped from prison twice after being charged with killing a US Defense Department official and wounding a US Marine during a 2000 carjacking in Niger was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years in prison.

Despite years of intimidation by the violent extremist group Boko Haram, the people of southeastern Niger's Diffa region had never held a summit to confront the threat - perhaps with good reason.

An American woman kidnapped by masked gunmen in central Nigeria last month was released on Friday and handed over to US government officials, police told AFP.

A US drone crash-landed at Niger's main airport for unknown reasons on Monday, the US army said, forcing the closure of the runway for several hours.

The United States is preparing a possible redeployment of its drones in Niger to set up a forward base in the Sahara closer to Islamist militants blamed for attacks across the region, U.S. military and Defense Department officials said.

Human rights groups has accused the United States of breaking international law and perhaps committing war crimes by killing civilians in missile and drone strikes that were intended to hit militants in Pakistan and Yemen.