Officials said a US delegation will travel to Niger over the weekend to discuss how it will be carried out.
“Niger is pretty profound in the decision of the government there … to have us depart or at least go to very low numbers,” Maier said.
Since the coup in July, airspace has been closed over Niger to foreign militaries who have all had to submit individual requests for airspace to conduct military flights, one US official told CNN.
A US military official explained that the withdrawal will come in phases over a period of months.
The footprint will continue to shrink in phases as equipment and personnel not deemed necessary are moved out of country.
Persons:
“ We’ll, ” Chris Maier, ” Maier, Michael Langley, ”, —
Organizations:
CNN, Pentagon, US Africa Command, Russian Federation
Locations:
Niger, West African, “ Niger, Africa, Russia, United States, Chad, Russian, China, Israel