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The United States is not seeking to establish new military bases in West Africa following its withdrawal from Niger, a senior US military official said, as Washington changes its regional strategy away from long-term deployments.
Lieutenant General John Brennan, deputy commander of US Africa Command, told AFP that the US has no plans to replace its former facilities in Niger after American troops were expelled by the ruling military junta.
“We’re not in the market to create a drone base anywhere,” Brennan said, referring to the closure of US drone operations in Agadez.
US forces withdrew from Niger in 2024 after the junta that seized power in a 2023 coup ordered the departure of foreign troops, ending one of Washington’s most major military partnerships in the region.
Brennan said the US military is instead focused on providing short-term operational support to partner countries rather than maintaining a permanent presence.
“We are much more focused on getting capability to the right place at the right time and then leaving,” he said, adding that Washington does not seek “long-term basing in any of the western African countries.”
Brennan’s comments come as the US recalibrates its security posture in the Sahel, where a series of coups in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have strained relations with Western governments and disrupted counterterrorism cooperation.
Despite the drawdown, Brennan said the US continues to engage with regional partners through intelligence sharing and limited security assistance.
“We have actually shared information with some of them to attack key terrorist targets,” he said.
“We still talk to our military partners across the Sahelian states, even though it’s not official.”
