US Establishes Drone Base in Niger

The US is now establishing a base in Niger from which to launch drones into Mali. If you had told me when I was a young man that the US would be fighting a war around Timbuktu in the Sahara against a small group of Islamist guerrillas I would have thought you mad. On the other hand I realized upon reading this news that I know very little about Niger. It is one of the African countries I still have not found any English language histories on. So if anybody has any suggestions for readings on the history of Niger please put them in the comments. If there is anything good in French it might serve as an inspiration start improving my embryonic ability to read French.

Source: Reuters