US military operations across the Sahel are at risk after Niger ends cooperation

By JESSICA DONATI and SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The U.S. is scrambling to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa after the ruling junta in Niger announced it was ending military cooperation with Washington. The U.S. military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in the country that is used to deploy flights over the vast Sahel region where jihadi groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate. The junta’s spokesperson also described U.S. flights over Niger’s territory in recent weeks as illegal. A local activist who assists Niger’s new military rulers with their communications says the U.S. cannot stay.