A U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules parked on a ramp at Base 201 in Agadez, Niger, on March 2, 2023. The Defense Department said Sept. 25 that it is assessing the implications of France’s upcoming military withdrawal from Niger for the U.S., which has about 1,100 troops in the country. ( Michael Matkin/U.S. Air Force)

The Pentagon said Monday that it is “assessing” the implications of France’s upcoming military withdrawal from Niger for the U.S. military, which still has about 1,100 troops hunkered down at a drone site in the country.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the focus is on relocating personnel from a military site in the capital of Niamey known as Base 101 to an Air Force drone hub in the city of Agadez.

Earlier this month, the U.S. began repositioning equipment and personnel to Agadez as a precautionary move. 

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country was ending its military presence in Niger in connection with a July coup that toppled the democratically elected president.

The situation has upended counterterrorism operations in western Africa, where the U.S. and France have worked in close partnership for several years.

Niger has served as the main operational hub for U.S. forces, with the $110 million drone base in Agadez serving as the cornerstone for intelligence gathering on an expanding mix of Islamic militants in the Sahel region. 

But now, the future of the mission in Niger is uncertain. Singh said that since Niger’s military seized power, the U.S. has ceased all counterterrorism operations in the country as well as any joint training with their military. 

The only surveillance flights taking place now are “for our own force protection, but nothing for counterterrorism,” Singh said.