US troops, equipment will depart from Niger by mid-September, the Pentagon says

By MARK SHERMAN and TARA COPP
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — American and Nigerien defense officials say U.S. troops ordered out of Niger by its ruling junta will complete their withdrawal from the West African country by the middle of September. The timeline announced Sunday was the product of four days of talks between the countries’ defense officials in the capital city of Niamey. Niger’s decision to kick out American forces dealt a blow to U.S. military operations in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate. The rupture in military cooperation followed last July’s ouster of the country’s democratically elected president by mutinous soldiers.