“My concern is that if the Russians come in … they continue to make the terrorism problem worse, not better, and then when they're done extracting what they want to extract, they're going to pack up and go home, and this place is going to look like a nightmare,” said Colin P. Clarke, the director of research at the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consultancy.
Although Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they do not want to make African leaders choose among competing powers, the move underscores how the plurality of players vying for influence in Africa, where both Russia and China are seeking to make inroads, complicates U.S. security assistance efforts.
Among the equipment unloaded by Russian troops arriving in Niger was an anti-aircraft battery, according to reports in Russian and Nigerien state media. As local militant groups pose no threat from the skies, the move was widely regarded as a shot across the bow at U.S. drone operations in the country.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/26/niger-military-withdrawal-us-counterterrorism-russia/