US says it has not received a formal request by Niger junta to leave military bases
By TARA COPP
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Pentagon official says that the U.S. has not received a formal request from Niger’s junta to depart the country, saying instead it has received mixed signals on whether the hundreds of U.S. troops based there are no longer welcome. Niger had been a key partner for the U.S. and but last July mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president and months later asked French forces to leave. There are ongoing conversations with the junta to discuss the path forward, the Pentagon said Thursday.
