U.S. preparing order to evacuate U.S. embassy personnel from Niger

The U.S. government is preparing an order to evacuate most U.S. Embassy personnel from Niger, according to three people familiar with internal deliberations.

A final decision to evacuate has not yet been made, said a U.S. diplomat, a U.S. official and a former U.S. official who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations. The U.S. diplomat said the decision was imminent, however.

The West African country, which only recently transitioned to democracy and is a key recipient of U.S. security aid, is in the midst of a military coup. The Biden administration is struggling with how to respond, including whether to formally declare the events a coup, because doing so could endanger its efforts to battle terrorism and give an opening for Russia to increase its influence in Africa.

European militaries, including the French armed forces, have already begun evacuating foreign nationals from the country. One development that prompted the extractions was intelligence indicating the ruling junta could take foreigners hostage and use them as human shields in the event of a military intervention, the former U.S. official said.

The potential ordered U.S. departure would involve evacuating most embassy personnel, but not all, the people said. This would include spouses, children, and many U.S. diplomats who are not key to critical embassy functions, the U.S. diplomat said.

Spokespersons for the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Already this week, 20 staffers with the U.S. Agency for International Development were evacuated, the U.S. diplomat said. The embassy also has released a contact form for private American citizens who may need help leaving Niger.

Robert Stryk, who runs a firm that extracts Americans in danger overseas, told POLITICO he and his team were “contacted by senior members of the United States government to inquire about our ability to move U.S. citizens out of Niger due to escalating concerns of violence.”

He added that he’s “liaised” with the French, British and Italian governments and is making plans to whisk U.S. officials to a “nearby safe location.” It’s unclear whether American diplomats and other staffers can leave Niger via private means without the government’s permission.

At the moment, the situation on the ground in the capital, Niamey, is relatively stable, the diplomat said. But protests are expected on Thursday, and an earlier demonstration led to an attack on the French Embassy. Reports have also emerged that Gen. Salifou Mody, the deputy head of the military junta currently in power, is traveling to Mali to seek support from the Russian-backed mercenary Wagner Group.

The involvement of Wagner forces in Niger would put the U.S. military in a difficult position, as Pentagon officials have recently raised alarms about the mercenary group’s outreach in other West African nations such as Mali. American commandos have previously clashed with the mercenaries, most prominently in a bloody 2018 battle in Syria.

The U.S. military has 1,100 troops in Niger, primarily stationed at Air Base 101 in Niamey and Air Base 201 at Agadez, which is a $100 million U.S.-funded facility that hosts American drones used to hunt terrorists. The American troops had been training and advising the Nigerien armed forces, but the Pentagon largely suspended that mission after the coup attempt.

Most American troops in Niger have been largely restricted to their bases for force protection reasons, according to a Defense Department official.

As of Tuesday, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said he was not aware of U.S. forces participating in an evacuation operation, and that there was no “imminent threat” to U.S. personnel or American citizens in the country.

“Obviously, we're a planning organization, we're always going to plan for various contingencies, but we continue to keep a close eye on the situation there,” Ryder said. “We continue to encourage American citizens who are in the country to stay in close contact with our embassy there.”

That same day, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said “we are continually reevaluating our posture to ensure the safety of our citizens.”