FILE - French soldiers disembark from a U.S. Air Force C130 cargo plane at Niamey, Niger base, on June 9, 2021. France on Friday Dec. 22, 2023 completed the withdrawal of its troops who were asked to leave Niger by the country’s new junta, ending years of on-the-ground military support and raising concerns from analysts about a gap in the fight against jihadi violence across Africa’s Sahel. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) FILE PHOTO
