The African nations of Niger and Chad have both been key partners with the United States

and combating terrorist groups in the region.

But as Ali Rogan tells us, that cooperation is in question now that both countries are ruled by military regimes.

The American presence in Niger and Chad gave U.S. troops eyes in the sky and boots on the

ground in the region known as the Sahel, a

stronghold for Islamist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. The Sahel accounts for

nearly half of all terrorism deaths worldwide. Nijer has been hosting nearly a thousand American military personnel and an air base from which the U.S.

launched drone operations, and special operations forces had also been stationed in

Chad's capital, and U capital and US soldiers have trained

local armed forces in both countries. But the majority of forces in Niger are

now on their way out. Those in Chad will follow suit while talks continue to possibly keep troops in the country.

As US forces withdraw, US adversaries are looking to fill the void.

Russia has sent military instructors to Niger,

and Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Chad's

Hunta leader in Moscow this year.

J. Peter Fum is former U.S. Ambassador and Special Envoy for the Sahel region and a distinguished

fellow with the Atlantic Council.

Peter, thank you so much for being here.

Pleasure be with you, Ali.

How significant are these departures?

Well, in particular, the departure and the loss of the two air bases, one in Agadez and one in Niami in I Niger, are significant.

It took a decade to build these facilities up, to train local forces with which we operated and to carry out operations not just in Niger and not just in the Sahel but actually these bases were useful for operations really across a wide part of Africa.

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