The U.S. military turned over control of its last base in Niger to local forces on Monday, ending a yearslong counterterrorism mission in the West African country even as violent extremism remains on the rise in the region.

The US has reached an agreement with Niger to withdraw its military forces from the African nation by September 15, according to the US Defense Department and the Nigerien Ministry of National Defense.

The newly agreed deadline gives the US four months to drawdown fewer than 1,000 troops who remain in the country, as well as their equipment, which includes MQ-9 Reaper drones and other assets.

A crucial military relationship between the United States and its closest West African ally, the country of Niger, ruptured this spring after a visiting U.S. official made threats during last-ditch negotiations over whether American troops based there would be allowed to remain, according to the country’s prime minister.

U.S. troops in the West African country of Chad are ‘accounted for’ after multiple reports of gunfire and five alleged deaths, Fox News Digital has learned.  Various videos have been posted on social media which show rifles and even what appears to be truck-mounted heavy weapons being fired indiscriminately at civilians, after results of the country’s Presidential elections earlier this week were announced. 

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces.

The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington's fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

Russian troops have been deployed to an airbase in Niger where American soldiers are located, US officials say.

The move comes after Niger's military rulers ordered the US to withdraw troops who had been countering Islamic insurgents in the region.

Russian forces were present at the base in Niger's capital Niamey, but were not mingling with American troops, US officials told the Reuters news agency.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Russians posed no "risk" to US forces.

The Biden administration is “actively suppressing intelligence reports” about the state of U.S. military relations with Niger, according to a new report issued by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. U.S. military service members told Gaetz’s office that they can’t get medicine, mail, or other support from the Pentagon.

Niger’s junta ordered the French ambassador in Niamey on Friday to leave the country within 48 hours, according to the Nigerien Foreign Ministry.

In a statement published by state-run broadcaster ORTN, the Nigerien Foreign Ministry said the ambassador Sylvain Itte had refused to attend a meeting scheduled for Friday with the country’s foreign minister.

The ministry said Nigerien authorities had withdrawn Itte’s credentials in light of the refusal, also citing “other actions by the French government that are against Niger’s interest.”

The West African bloc ECOWAS stands ready to intervene militarily in Niger should diplomatic efforts to reverse a coup there fail, a senior official told army chiefs who were meeting in Ghana on Thursday to discuss the details of a standby force.

Niger military officers deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and Western powers to reinstate him, prompting West African heads of state to order the standby force to be assembled.