Hundreds of People Rally Against US Military Presence in Niger - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Several hundred people have gathered in the Nigerien city of Agadez, near the site of a US military base, to protest against US military presence in the country and demand that US forces leave, Nigerien news portal Air Info Agadez reported on Sunday.

Last month, a spokesperson for the Nigerien military said that the country's transitional government, which took power in a military takeover last July, had terminated the military agreement with the United States with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.

"We, the people of Agadez and all of Niger, are convinced that the presence of any foreign military base on our territory cannot be conducive to our security and constitutes a form of neocolonialism," one of the protesters said on video released by the news portal.

The rally participants carry Nigerien, Malian, and Russian flags, as well as placards calling on the US to completely withdraw its forces from Niger.

Niger's Interior Ministry recently said the US had promised to submit a plan for the "disengagement" of troops from the Western African country after Niamey ended its military pact with Washington.