DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross announced the closure of its offices in Niger and the departure of its foreign staff, four months after the ruling junta ordered the organization to leave the country.
The ICRC confirmed the closure and departure in a statement on Thursday.
“We reiterate our willingness to maintain constructive dialogue with the authorities of Niger with a view to resuming our strictly humanitarian protection and assistance activities," Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s regional director for Africa, said in the statement.
In February, Niger’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had ordered the ICRC to close its offices and leave the country. No official reason was given for the military junta’s decision to shut down the organization's operations in the country at the time.
The ICRC said it had been in dialogue with Niger's authorities since February to understand the reasons for their decision and provide any necessary clarification but that these efforts were unsuccessful.
On May 31, Niger’s junta leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, justified the ICRC expulsion on Nigerien state television, accusing the organization of having met with “terrorist leaders” and funding armed groups.
The ICRC refuted the accusations in its statement on Thursday, saying that dialogue with all sides in the conflict is necessary to carry out its humanitarian mandate and that it “never provides financial, logistical, or any other form of support" to armed groups.
The humanitarian organization had been active in the West African country since 1990, mainly helping people displaced by violence by Islamic extremists, food insecurity and natural disasters. According to the organization, it provided humanitarian aid to more than 2 million people in Niger.
Niger’s military rulers took power in a coup two years ago, the latest of several military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel, the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert that has become a hotspot for extremist violence by militant groups.
Since the coup, Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, such as France and the United States, turning instead to Russia for security.
Last November, the country's military junta banned the French aid group Acted from working in the country amid tensions with France.
FILE - Medical staff with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and South Sudan Red Cross, move a wounded patient to an ambulance in Akobo, South Sudan, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Joseph Falzetta, file)
The U.S. Army temporarily halted all Apache helicopter training missions Friday after a fatal crash in Texas earlier this week killed two soldiers.
No cause of the Wednesday crash has been released because the investigation has just begun. A safety investigation team from the Army Combat Readiness Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama, is trying to determine what happened, the Army said.
“The stand-down will remain in effect until we have a better understanding of the root cause of the accident," the Army said in its statement Friday.
The military has taken similar action after past crashes. Three years ago, the Army grounded all aviation units until they completed some additional training after 12 soldiers died in separate crashes in Alaska and Kentucky.
The Army made no mention of stopping the combat missions that Apache helicopters are regularly flying in the war in Iran.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey, 34, of Killeen, Texas, and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead, 25, of Belton, Texas, were killed in the Texas crash, the Army said. They were the only two people on board when the helicopter crashed in a grassy field near Salado, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Fort Hood.
Huey entered the Army in 2014 and Olmstead entered in 2023. They were assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.
“Our hearts and deepest condolences are with the families of the Soldiers we lost Wednesday,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, III Armored Corps and Fort Hood commanding general. “The Army is a family, and a tragedy like this is felt throughout our formations and our community.”
Aviation safety expert John Cox said it’s encouraging to see the Army take this step because “you’re guessing until you get some hard answers” and this move signals the Army is making safety a priority.
“I am very much glad to see them doing that. It says that they’re being proactive,” said Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems and a longtime pilot.
The National Transportation Safety Board criticized the Army’s safety culture sharply during the investigation of last year’s collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet in the skies near Washington, D.C. The NTSB said the Army did a poor job recognizing some of the safety risks in the busy airspace around the nation’s capital before that crash in January 2025 that killed 67 people.
Fort Hood is a massive base with 214,968 acres (86,995 hectares) that is used to train and deploy heavy forces. In November 2015, four soldiers were killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training exercise. And nine Fort Hood soldiers died in 2016 when a rain-swollen creek swept their vehicle into rushing waters.
The Apache attack helicopter has been a core part of Army aviation since the first one was delivered in 1984. More than 5,000 Apaches have been deployed by the U.S. military and its allies over the decades.
This photo provided by the Bell County Sheriff's Office shows the scene of an Army Apache helicopter crash Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, near Salado, Texas. (Cliff Coleman/Bell County Sherrif's Office via AP)
This photo provided by the Bell County Sheriff's Office shows the scene of an Army Apache helicopter crash Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, near Salado, Texas. (Cliff Coleman/Bell County Sherrif's Office via AP)
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, shows Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead. (U.S. Army via AP)
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, shows Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey. (U.S. Army via AP)
