Nigerian junta leaders announced their intent to sever military ties with the United States over the weekend, representing a potential end between the U.S. and one of its most important allies for African counterterrorism.

The U.S. military has roughly 650 military personnel in Niger, according to a White House report to Congress from December, who are stationed at a major air base in the northern part of the country where the U.S. would conduct manned and unmanned aerial counterterrorism surveillance.