Airmen with the 409th Air Expeditionary Group's explosive ordnance disposal flight conduct a hostage rescue exercise at Air Base 201, Agadez, Niger, in 2022. Personnel and equipment are being sent from other locations to Agadez, following a coup that has brought a halt to U.S. military operations in the country. (Chloe Ochs/U.S. Air National Guard)

U.S. military personnel and equipment are moving out of a small base near Niger’s capital of Niamey in a precautionary move that concentrates American forces at a more remote hub, the Pentagon said.

The repositioning, which is underway, comes amid a coup in Niger that has brought a halt to U.S. military operations in the country.

“There is no perceived threat … to U.S. troops and no threat of violence on the ground,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a news briefing Thursday.

Senior Airman Bailey Malik transports cargo at Air Base 101, Niger, in November 2022. U.S. personnel and equipment are being repositioned following a coup in Niger that has brought a halt to U.S. military operations in the country. ( Luna Kim/U.S. Air Force)

The move means nearly all of the roughly 1,100 American military personnel in Niger will be located at a base in Agadez, a $110 million facility that serves as an intelligence gathering hub for U.S. Air Force drones. The site, which became operational in 2019, plays a key role in regional counterterrorism activities. But operations have stopped since the July coup.

“Our position remains the same, that we hope that the situation on the ground gets resolved diplomatically,” Singh said.

Around the time of the coup, the U.S. military moved some of its nonessential personnel and contractors out of the country, Singh said. However, the military’s “force posture” and total number of personnel remains unchanged, she said.