No decision to evacuate US citizens from Niger, John Kirby says

The US has not made a decision to evacuate its citizens from crisis-struck Niger for now, the White House told Al Arabiya on Tuesday, despite assuring that it is monitoring the situation “by the hour.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US is aware of evacuation efforts by France and other European countries but noted that “we don’t have any indications of direct threats to US citizens or to our facilities.”

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“And so, we’ve not changed our posture with respect to our presence in Niger at this time, but again, we’re monitoring it literally by the hour. And if that changes, I’m sure we will have more to say about that,” Kirby said in response to Al Arabiya’s question.

He called on Americans in Niger to remain vigilant and to ensure that they limit any unnecessary movement while keeping an eye on updates and alerts regarding the situation in the country.

About 1,000 US troops are stationed in the land-locked African nation, where they were helping ousted President Mohamed Bazoum combat a regional insurgency.

Kirby said the US military in Niger was not taking part in the European airlifts.

“There’s been no decision to use them in any way to support evacuation efforts by other countries,” he said, and there has been “no decision made about pre-positioning any additional forces in or nearby.”

“If we have to make adjustments, we’ll make adjustments,” he said. “We’re just not there.”

Kirby also said that US support to Niger remains unchanged for now, but will depend on how things unfold moving forward.

“We haven’t made any decision, but we’ll certainly engage in a rigorous process to evaluate our systems going forward. We’ve been very clear with leaders in Niger about the potential consequences here for loss of US support.”

Military officers in the former French colony ousted Bazoum last week, sending shockwaves across the region where Niger’s Western allies fear losing influence to Russia.

However, Kirby told Al Arabiya that the US hasn’t seen Russian involvement in the events in Niger.

“I think, quite frankly...in our view, there’s no indication that Russia was behind this [or that] Russia is materially or effectively supporting it in any way,” he said.

Kirby added that Russia might like “to take credit” for the developments, “but we’ve seen no indication that they’re responsible. So, we’re not overly concerned about some massive Russian effect here.”

With agencies

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