France Pull Its Troops Gradually From Niger This Week

French troop air patrols in Madama, Niger. (Wikimedia Commons/Thomas GOISQUE)

JAKARTA - The French troops began to be withdrawn from Niger this week, Paris said on Thursday, after a dispute with the ruling military junta since the coup in July.

"We will start the withdrawal operation this week, safely, and coordinating with Niger," the French military headquarters said.

In a statement Thursday, the French Armed Forces Ministry said the process of withdrawing its entire military from Niger must be completed by the end of this year, quoted by Reuters.

The announcement comes a week after French Ambassador to Niger left the country, under pressure from the ruling military regime.

Last month, President Emmanuel Macron announced France would withdraw 1,400 troops by the end of this year.

The French military is in Niger as part of a broader struggle against extremists in the Sahel region which includes Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Guinea Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal.

About 400 of them were deployed with local forces in northwestern Niger, near their border with Burkina Faso and Mali.

It is a 'three-border' zone known as a haven for the Islamic State group. The troops who withdrew from the region needed protection to leave their open front positions, the military headquarters said, perhaps including air support from larger troops at air bases outside the capital Niamey.