The US Department of Defense is working with the State Department to establish a US military presence in coastal West Africa to partner with countries there in a more significant way, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday.
"This is an important area [coastal West Africa], and we are working with State [Department] currently to address those places that you mentioned, and potentially develop the capability to have a presence there and partner in a more significant way with a couple of those countries, and that network is ongoing now," Austin said during a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing.
Washington and Niamey recently began discussions for the "orderly withdrawal" of US servicepeople based in Niger. The military pullout was initiated in March after a Nigerien military spokesperson said the country's transitional government, which took power in a coup last July, had terminated the military agreement with the US with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.
The Pentagon later announced that some of the US contingent will also be withdrawn from Chad.