Analysis-West losing sight of Sahel after France announces Niger withdrawal

FILE PHOTO: A person holds a paper that reads 'We no longer want France' as Nigerien women demonstrate by hitting and carrying kitchen utensils in support of the putschists in front of French Army headquarters, in Niamey, Niger August 30, 2023. REUTERS/Mahamadou Hamidou /File Photo

PARIS/DAKAR (Reuters) - France's decision to pull 1,500 troops from Niger leaves a gaping hole in Western efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency and could bolster Russian influence across the vast, insecure scrublands of West Africa, analysts and diplomats said.

Niger was the West's last key ally in the central Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert until a July 26 coup brought in a military junta which called for France to leave.