MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Armed assailants on motorbikes killed at least 30 people and burned houses and shops during raids on three villages in northwest Nigeria’s Niger State early on Saturday, residents who escaped the violence told Reuters.
The attacks on villages in the Borgu Local Government Area, near the border with Benin Republic, are part of a surge in attacks blamed on “bandits,” who have carried out deadly assaults, abductions for ransom, and displaced communities across northern Nigeria.
Insecurity is a pressing concern in Nigeria and the government is under mounting pressure to restore stability.
Wasiu Abiodun, Niger State police spokesperson, confirmed the attack in one of the villages.
“Suspected bandits invaded Tunga-Makeri village … six persons lost their lives, some houses were also set ablaze, and a yet-to-be ascertained number of persons were abducted,” Abiodun said.
He added that the assailants had moved on to Konkoso village, while details of other attacks remained unclear.
Jeremiah Timothy, a resident of Konkoso who fled to a nearby locality, said the attack on his village began in the early hours with sporadic gunfire.
“At least 26 people were killed so far in the village after they set the police station ablaze,” said Timothy, adding that the attackers entered Konkoso around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT), shooting indiscriminately.
He said residents heard military jets flying overhead.
Another witness who requested anonymity, said the attackers, riding more than 200 motorbikes, swept through the area targeting the villages.
Auwal Ibrahim, a resident of Tunga-Makeri, recounted the early-morning assault on his village at approximately 0200 GMT.
“The bandits stormed our town around 3:00 a.m. (local time), riding so many motorcycles while shooting sporadically, beheading six people and killing others. They set shops on fire and forced the whole village to flee,” Ibrahim said.
He added that many villagers fear returning as the gunmen remain nearby.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri and Hamza Ibrahim in Kano Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Sustained heavy gunfire and loud explosions have been heard in Niger near the international airport outside the capital, Niamey.
Multiple eyewitness accounts and videos showed air defence systems apparently engaging unidentified projectiles in the early hours of Thursday.
The situation later calmed down, reports say, with an official reportedly saying the situation was now under control, without elaborating.
It is not clear what caused the blasts, or if there were any casualties. There has been no official statement from the military government.
The gunfire and blasts began shortly after midnight, according to residents of a neighbourhood near the Diori Hamani International Airport, the AFP news agency reports. They said calm returned after two hours.
The airport houses an air force base and is located about 10km (six miles) from the presidential palace.
Niger is led by Abdourahamane Tiani who seized power in a 2023 coup that ousted the country’s elected civilian president.
Like its neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, the country has been fighting jihadist groups who have carried out deadly attacks across the region.
It is also a major producer of uranium.
A huge uranium shipment destined for export has been stuck at the airport amid unresolved legal and diplomatic complications with France after the military government nationalised the country’s uranium mines.
“The situation is under control. There is no need to worry,” the Anadolu news agency quoted a Foreign Affairs ministry official as saying, without elaborating.
The official told the agency they were trying to determine whether the gunfire was linked to the uranium shipment.
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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron travels on Wednesday to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where he hopes to secure uranium for his country’s nuclear plants.
The trip comes as geopolitical tensions grow with the EU’s current major suppliers, Niger and Russia.
Macron’s visit to the two countries aims to expand French influence in an area which has strong ties with Russia and is now also growing closer to China, an Elysée official said.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are respectively France’s largest and third-largest suppliers of uranium, which is burned to fuel nuclear plants.
Last summer a military junta took over Niger, which supplies 15 percent of France’s uranium needs, sparking questions as to whether the African country can continue to be a reliable source. Uncertainty has also surrounded imports of Russian uranium since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Niger raises questions, Russia could raise questions in the long term [if] the EU imposes sanctions on the nuclear sector. Macron’s visit to Central Asia helps to anticipate those concerns,” said Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy expert at the Jacques Delors Institute think tank in Paris.
Russia’s nuclear sector has not been targeted by EU sanctions so far, but member countries continue to turn away from Moscow. The quantity of uranium the EU imported from Russia fell by 16 percent last year from 2021, while the amount from Kazakhstan rose by over 14 percent.
Earlier this year, Yerzhan Mukanov, CEO of the country’s state-run nuclear firm Kazatomprom, told POLITICO he was seeing increasing interest from Europe, and that Kazakhstan “intends to become a significant contributor to the European nuclear market.”
French nuclear firm Orano is active in Kazakhstan, where it has been operating uranium mines since the 1990s, and more recently in Uzbekistan. Orano President Claude Imauven is accompanying Macron on his trip along with 14 other French executives, including Luc Remont, head of French energy giant EDF.
An Elysée official said that new contracts and business partnerships will be announced during the trip, including in the energy sector.
EDF has also positioned itself to become a supplier of nuclear reactors for Kazakhstan’s first nuclear plant.
The visit comes as Brussels competes with China for influence in the region via investment programs focused on infrastructure.
Both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are benefitting from Chinese investment under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, with their presidents attending a high-level meeting on the subject in Beijing in October. The EU is trying to gain influence in the two countries by involvingthem in cooperation and investment projects under its “Global Gateway” initiative, the bloc’s response to Belt and Road.
The deaths come as former colonial power France prepares to withdraw a counterinsurgency force stationed in the country.
Seven soldiers have been killed in Niger’s southwest in an attack by suspected rebels, and five others died in a traffic accident while trying to respond to the assault.
The deaths on Thursday come as former colonial power France prepares to withdraw a counterinsurgency force stationed in the country at the request of its new military leaders, who seized power in a coup two months ago.
Niger’s defence minister, Salifou Mody, said in a statement that a military unit had been “violently attacked by several hundred terrorists” in the town of Kandadji on Thursday, adding that seven soldiers were killed in the fighting.
“During an intervention” launched in response to the attack, “a tragic traffic accident led to the loss of five of our brave soldiers”, he continued.
Another seven people were injured and evacuated to a hospital, he said.
“A search and sweep operation is now underway in order to track down the enemy,” the minister said.
The Tillaberi region, where the attack took place, is located in the so-called “three borders” zone where Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali meet. The area is a hideout for rebels, particularly those affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
The country’s southwest, where it shares a border with Nigeria, is similarly plagued by attacks by Boko Haram and its dissident branch, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The leaders of the coup that toppled Niger’s elected government in late July had cited the deterioration of the security situation in the country as justification.
According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a conflict aggregator, the number of deaths from rebel attacks in Niger has risen since the generals seized power.
“The first month of junta rule in Niger was marked by a 42 percent increase in political violence compared to the month prior,” the ACLED report read.
In mid-August, at least 17 soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in a suspected rebel attack near the border with Burkina Faso.
It was the deadliest known attack in the country since the coup.
France is currently preparing to withdraw – as demanded by the post-coup government – a contingent of 1,500 troops stationed in Niger as part of a counterinsurgency deployment in the Sahel region.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said the pullout would be completed by the end of the year, while alleging that the country’s post-coup authorities “no longer wanted to fight against terrorism”.
The coup against democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum was the third in the region in as many years, following similar actions in Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which were also once French colonies.
The earlier coups also forced the pullouts of French troops, and all three countries have been targeted by rebel attacks for several years.
The United States, which has about 1,100 military personnel in Niger, has said it will “evaluate” its future steps following France’s announcement that its troops would withdraw.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that French troops would be withdrawn from Niger in the next couple of months, in the wake of a coup d’état in the Western African country this summer.
The military withdrawal from Niger comes after French troops were ousted from neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, amid growing anti-French sentiment across the continent and military failures in containing jihadist terrorism in the Sahel region.
Macron also said France would imminently withdraw its ambassador, who had been living under effective house arrest in the French embassy in the capital Niamey, according to French authorities.
“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours, our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron said during an interview with French TV channels.
Macron also said the military cooperation between France and Niger was “over” and that French troops would return before the end of the year. “In the weeks and months to come, we will consult with the putschists, because we want this to be done peacefully,” he added.
The military junta, which came to power in July, had set France an ultimatum to withdraw its troops that were involved in anti-terrorist operations in North Africa. France at the time pledged not to withdraw troops unless requested by the deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.
1,500 French troops are stationed in several bases across Niger.
In the weeks after the coup, France also said it would consider supporting a possible military intervention launched by the African regional body ECOWAS against the putschists in Niamey. With the decision to withdraw, that prospect appears more and more unlikely.
Protesters rally outside a French military base calling for the ambassador and about 1,500 soldiers to leave.
Large demonstrations are taking place outside a French military base in Niger’s capital, Niamey, as pressure mounts on France’s ambassador and soldiers to leave the country.
Niger’s military government, which seized power on July 26, has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of using divisive rhetoric in his comments about the coup and seeking to perpetrate France’s neocolonial relationship with its former colony.
Sylvain Itte, France’s ambassador, remained in Niger despite a 48-hour deadline to leave the country more than a week ago, a decision Macron said he “applauds”.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Niamey, said demonstrators – expressing frustration there is still a French presence in the country – were beginning to take matters into their own hands.
According to security personnel, the protest was scheduled to begin at about 3pm (14:00 GMT), but thousands of demonstrators had already gathered by 10am (09:00 GMT), taking police and security forces by surprise.
Idris said the protests that have taken place over the past few days have been “relatively calm and organised”. But earlier on Saturday demonstrators were seen “breaking the barriers set up by the security forces, the police and the military”, and approaching the army base with some “trying to gain access forcefully”.
The military has since reinforced the area around the French base, which contains about 1,500 French troops, and warned against forceful entry and the repercussions that would follow.
‘I speak every day to President Bazoum’: Macron
Niger’s military regime has accused Paris of “blatant interference” by backing the country’s deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.
Comments by Macron in support of Bazoum “constitute further blatant interference in Niger’s domestic affairs”, military spokesman Colonel Amadou Abdramane said in a statement read on nationwide TV.
Macron said on Friday he spoke daily with Bazoum after he was removed from power in the coup.
“I speak every day to President Bazoum. We support him. We do not recognise those who carried out the putsch. The decisions we will take, whatever they may be, will be based upon exchanges with Bazoum,” said Macron.
The Sahel state is also embroiled in a standoff with the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to intervene militarily if diplomatic pressure to return Bazoum to office fails.
On Monday, Macron said: “I call on all the states in the region to adopt a responsible policy.”
France, he said, “supports [ECOWAS’s] diplomatic action and, when it so decides, [its] military” action, he said, describing this as “a partnership approach”.
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS says it has chosen an undisclosed “D-Day” for a possible military intervention to restore Niger’s democratically elected president following last month’s coup.
Abdel-Fatau Musah, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace & Security of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, said that military forces are “ready to go anytime the order is given” for military intervention in Niger.
“The D-day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose,” Musah told journalists after the two-day meeting of West African defense chiefs in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
Last week, ECOWAS ordered the “activation” of a regional standby force to prepare itself to enter Niger, which was taken over by a military junta on July 26.
On Friday, Musah reiterated that the bloc’s priority remains “the restoration of the constitutional order in the shortest possible time.”
“We are not going to engage in endless dialogue. It must be fruitful,” the commissioner added.
He also called once again for the release of the country’s “legitimate” leader, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held under house arrest with his wife and son since he was overthrown by the armed junta.
Niger’s junta claimed it had gathered evidence to prosecute him for what it says amount to “high treason.”
Niger, which lies at the heart of Africa’s Sahel, was one of the few remaining democracies in the region.
Bazoum’s election win in 2021 marked a relatively peaceful transfer of power and capped years of military coups following Niger’s independence from France in 1960.
Leaders ECOWAS responded to the coup by enacting sanctions and issuing an ultimatum to the ruling military junta: stand down within a week or face a potential military intervention.
“That is why we say all options are on the table. If they [the junta] want to take the peaceful pathway to the restoration of constitutional order in the country, then we can stand down the military option because it is not our preferred option,” Musah said.
The commissioner said the bloc had decided that the “coup in Niger is one coup too many,” for the region, adding that there will be no further meetings of ECOWAS defense chiefs on the issue.
“We are putting a stop to it at this time,” Musah said in his concluding remarks.
The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) of Niger, the military council that toppled the government in July, said in a statement on Sunday that they have gathered the necessary evidence to “prosecute” Niger’s ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason” and “undermining” the security of the country.
“The Nigerien government has to date, gathered the necessary evidence to prosecute the deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices before the competent national and international authorities for high treason and undermining internal and external security of Niger,” the CNSP said.
The CNSP said Bazoum regularly receives visits from his doctor and the last visit was on Saturday, August 12.
They added that the doctor did not raise any problem as to Bazoum’s state of health and members of his family.
On July 26, the CNSP seized power in Niger, sparking international condemnation and renewed uncertainty in a volatile part of Africa beset by coups and militant extremism.
West African leaders are meeting in an emergency summit to decide what to do next about Niger, where a military junta has been in power since July 26. Officials close to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum say he and his wife have no running water, electricity or access to doctors. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata has more.
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We consider the impact as China’s export curbs on the chipmaking metals gallium and germanium take effect.
Semiconductor chips are a vital component used in devices including smartphones, electric cars, wind turbines and even missiles. They are now considered as crucial to economic production as oil.
The United States is worried China could use chip technology to further develop its military power. It unveiled export controls in October to prevent Beijing from getting the most advanced ones. That marked the start of tit-for-tat trade restrictions and upped their geopolitical rivalry.
In a recent move, China has begun to restrict the export of industry-critical materials.
Elsewhere, after the coup in Niger, millions of its citizens could pay the price of sanctions.
And can Egypt lure dollars back into its financial system?
Tinubu is reportedly seeking support to intervene against the ruling military in Niger, where a coup removed the democratically elected government.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has written a letter to his country’s Senate, asking its members to back a regional military intervention in neighbouring Niger, where a coup toppled the democratically elected government of Mohamed Bazoum last week.
Local daily The Cable reported on Friday that Tinubu requested for “military buildup and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant”.
Regional powerhouse Nigeria currently holds the rotating presidency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which imposed sanctions on Niger and on Sunday gave the putschists a week to restore Bazoum to power or risk possible armed intervention.
Sanctions imposed on Niger by the 15-member ECOWAS include border closures and suspension of all financial and commercial ties with the country. The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) cancelled a planned 30-billion-CFA-franc ($51m) bond issuance by Niger on Monday.
ECOWAS also dispatched a delegation to Niger – headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar – to negotiate with the soldiers who seized power. But the team left without meeting General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the coup leader.
Meanwhile, Tchiani has said he will not bow to pressure to reinstate Bazoum. He denounced the sanctions as “illegal” and “inhumane” and urged his countrymen to get ready to defend their nation.
ECOWAS has been struggling to contain a democratic backslide in West Africa in the last two years. This has included military takeovers in member states Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau.
Tinubu who is yet to appoint ministers for defence and foreign affairs – despite sending a list of 48 ministerial nominees to parliament, is eager to stamp his authority in a region derided as the “coup belt”.
And Nigeria, which has the largest armed forces in the region and has previously contributed the most number of troops to other regional peacekeeping missions, is set to lead any intervention force in Niger.
Western countries have also strongly condemned the July 26 coup. Many of them saw Niger as the last reliable partner in efforts to battle armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) in the Sahel region.
Several Western nations have also cut aid, even though Niger is one of the poorest counties in the world and relies on outside help for nearly half of its annual budget.
Johannesburg — Hundreds of people joined demonstrations in Niger’s capital city of Niamey on Thursday, protesting against sanctions imposed on the country by many of its neighbors in the wake of a military takeover. Amid concern that Russia could seek to expand its already-growing regional influence, some coup supporters were seen brandishing Russian flags.
Anti-Western sentiment — particularly aimed at former colonial power France — has served as a backdrop for the events in Niamey since the sudden detention on July 26 of the country’s elected president by the commander of his own elite guard.
Nigeriens, some holding Russian flags, participate in a march called by supporters of coup leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani in Niamey, Niger, July 30, 2023.
“Given ongoing developments in Niger and out of an abundance of caution, the Department of State is ordering the temporary departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from the U.S. embassy in Niamey,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The embassy remained open for limited emergency services. Kathleen FitzGibbon, recently confirmed as the new U.S. Ambassador to Niger, was not yet in the country.
The Pentagon has suspended security cooperation with Nigerien military forces since the soldiers’ seizure of power, but the U.S. has not called the dramatic upheaval a coup, with the White House referring to it instead as an “attempted power grab.”
Pressure from abroad on a key U.S. partner nation
Niger has become an important U.S. partner in a tumultuous region of Africa. Labeling what has happened there a coup would, under U.S. law, require a review of all American assistance to the country, and likely a complete cutting of those ties.
There was no indication that the nearly 1,100 U.S. soldiers in Niger were due to leave the country.
“There are no changes to the U.S. military force posture in Niger during the Department of State-led ordered departure,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday in a statement, adding that the State Department had not requested any U.S. military “personnel or equipment as part of the ordered departure.”
Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held under effective house arrest for more than a week by the commander of his own elite guard unit, and Niger have been seen as a key ally in the Sahel — a vast region across North Africa plagued by terrorism. It is also a region where Russia has managed to increase its influence in recent years, including through the deployment of Wagner Group mercenaries in Mali, which borders Niger.
On Sunday, four days after the coup, crowds of protesters attacked the French embassy in Niamey, prompting France to begin evacuation flights. France, the former colonial power in Niger which still has about 1,500 troops based in the country, working in partnership with Niger’s forces, has been accused of failing to protect the Nigerien people from Islamist extremism.
Thursday was Independence Day in Niger, marking the country’s 1960 independence from France. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Bazoum in a telephone call Wednesday that the White House remained committed to restoring his democratically elected government.
People, some carrying Russian flags, demonstrate in Niger’s capital Niamey to show their support for the military rulers who seized power in a July 26 coup, on August 3, 2023.
Djibo Issifou/picture alliance/Getty
President Biden, in a statement released Thursday to mark Niger’s independence, said the country was “facing a grave challenge to its democracy.”
“In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honor our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance,” Mr. Biden said, adding a call “for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy.”
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional bloc that includes Niger and 14 of its neighbors, imposed sanctions against the country Niger and has since confirmed that it is prepared to authorize the use of force if Bazoum’s government is not restored by August 6.
Coup leader stands firm, and finds some support
In a televised address Wednesday night, coup leader Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani said his junta “rejects these sanctions altogether and refuses to give into any threats, wherever they come from.”
Tchiani called the ECOWAS sanctions against Niger “illegal, unjust and inhumane,” and insisted that he would not bow to any international pressure to reinstate Bazoum.
Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, second from the right, and other army commanders are seen in Niger’s capital, Niamey, July 28, 2023, after claiming control over the country.
Balima Boureima/Anadolu Agency/Getty
An ECOWAS delegation led by Nigeria’s former military head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abukbakar, was in Niamey this week to mediate with the coup leaders, and West African defense chiefs were meeting Thursday and Friday in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss the situation.
Nigeria’s military defense spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, told journalists “a military solution will be the last option” to resolve the crisis in neighboring Niger.
He was to present a military contingency plan, however, on Friday to ECOWAS heads of state, who will then decide on the bloc’s action if the coup leaders miss the Sunday deadline to reinstate Bazoum.
Niger’s former army chief of staff, Gen. Salifou Mody, who has a role in the junta now ruling the country, travelled to Mali Wednesday to meet that country’s own post-coup transitional authorities. It was the first visit abroad by a member of Niger’s post-coup leadership.
There was speculation in African media that Mody had travelled to Mali to discuss the possibility of Wagner forces being deployed to Niger to back up the junta. Mody later travelled to Burkina Faso, where a military coup also toppled a civilian government last year. There he met transitional leader Capt. Ibrahim.
A statement by the Burkinabe presidency said the meeting had “focused on the situation in Niger, which is calm and under control according to the head of delegation.”
The U.S. ordered the departure of non-emergency government personnel and their eligible family members from Niger on Wednesday, a week after the military seized power from Niger’s democratically elected president.
“The U.S. Embassy in Niamey has temporarily reduced its personnel, suspended routine services, and is only able to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Niger,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
In a post on Twitter, Secretary Anthony Blinken wrote, “The U.S. is committed to our relationship with the people of Niger. The embassy remains open, and our leaders are diplomatically engaged at the highest levels.”
Blinken has spoken with Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday.
“The United States remains committed to the restoration of the democratically-elected government, consistent with the position of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, and international partners. We reiterate that the safety and security of President Bazoum and his family are paramount,” Miller said.
Earlier Niger’s new military ruler lashed out at neighboring countries and the international community in a nationally televised speech and he called on the population to be ready to defend the nation.
Soldiers claimed on July 26, 2023 to have overthrown the government of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum in a statement read out on national television, after a day in which the leader was detained in his official residence.
Getty Images
Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani warned against foreign meddling and military intervention against the coup.
“We therefore call on the people of Niger as a whole and their unity to defeat all those who want to inflict unspeakable suffering on our hard-working populations and destabilize our country,” Tchiani said.
Tchiani, who commands Niger’s presidential guard, also promised to create the conditions for a peaceful transition to elections following his ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum.
President Mohamed Bazoum overthrown by military coup in Niger.
Mahmut Resul Karaca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
His speech comes amid rising regional tensions as the West African regional bloc ECOWAS threatens to use military force if Bazoum isn’t released from house arrest and reinstated by Aug. 6. The bloc has imposed severe travel and economic sanctions.
The coup has been strongly condemned by Western countries, many of which saw Niger as the last reliable partner for the West in efforts to battle jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Africa’s Sahel region. Russia and Western countries have been vying for influence in the fight against extremism.
France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger who conduct joint operations with its military, and the United States and other European countries have helped train the nation’s troops.
Tchiani said that Niger is facing difficult times ahead and that the “hostile and radical” attitudes of those who oppose his rule provide no added value. He called the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS illegal, unfair, inhuman and unprecedented.
The fierce rhetoric came as a fourth French military evacuation flight left Niger, after France, Italy and Spain announced evacuations of their citizens and other Europeans in Niamey amid concerns they could become trapped.
Nearly 1,000 people had left on four flights, and a fifth evacuation was underway, France’s ministry of foreign affairs said. An Italian military aircraft landed in Rome on Wednesday with 99 passengers, including 21 Americans and civilians from other countries, the Italian defense ministry said. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the flights took place with the permission of Niger’s new government.
A two-day meeting of defense chiefs of the ECOWAS bloc opened Wednesday in Nigeria’s capital to confer on next steps. Abdel-Fatau Musah, the bloc’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and stability, said the meeting in Abuja would deal with how to “negotiate with the officers in the hostage situation that we find ourselves in the Republic of Niger.”
The sanctions announced by ECOWAS on Sunday included halting energy transactions with Niger, which gets up to 90% of its power from neighboring Nigeria, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
A French military ambulance is seen as citizens of European countries queue outside the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey. French and other European citizens evacuated from Niger landed in Paris Wednesday, a week after a coup toppled one of the last pro-Western leaders in the jihadist-plagued Sahel.
STANISLAS POYET via Getty Images
On Tuesday, power transmission from Nigeria to Niger was cut off, an official at one of Nigeria’s main electricity companies said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the issue. The official did not clarify how much of Niger’s power the cut represented, but any reduction would further squeeze citizens in the impoverished country of more than 25 million people. U.S. officials have stayed engaged in trying to roll back the armed takeover, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling Niger’s president late Tuesday to express “continued unwavering support.”
A U.S. pullout from Niger would risk Washington’s longstanding counter-terror investments in the West African country, including a major air base in Agadez that is key to efforts against armed extremists across the Sahara and Sahel. The United States has roughly 1,000 military personnel in Niger and helps train some Nigerien forces.
Leaving Niger would also risk yielding the country to the influence of Russia and its Wagner mercenary group, which already has a significant presence in Mali, Central African Republic and Sudan.
General Salifou Mody, one of the Niger officers who seized power in a military coup last week, visited Mali on Wednesday, according to the Mali presidency, amid speculation of a possible interest in the Wagner mercenary group, which has a presence in the country.
Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goïta, hosted Mody and a large Nigerien military delegation on Wednesday, according to pictures and a statement posted on Facebook by the Mali presidency.
Mody called the meeting “part of a complex regional context,” the Mali presidency said, and thanked Malian authorities “for their support and accompaniment since the seizure of power by the CNSP,” referring to the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland where Mody is vice president.
Hundreds of Wagner contractors are stationed in Mali at the invitation of the country’s military junta, to quell an Islamist insurgency brewing in an area where the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger meet.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last week celebrated the coup in the landlocked West African country, saying his private military company could also help with situations like the one unfolding in Niger.
The dramatic ouster of Niger’s President Bazoum last week alarmed Western leaders, including the US and France, which are both key stakeholders in Niger’s crackdown on local Islamist insurgencies.
US officials have warned that the Russian mercenary group could now seek new opportunities in Niger. “I would not be surprised to see Wagner attempt to exploit this situation to their own advantage as they’ve attempted to exploit other situations in Africa to their own advantage,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Wednesday.
Miller added that “any attempt by the military leaders in Niger to bring the Wagner forces into Niger would be a sign, yet another sign that they do not have the best interests of the Nigerien people at heart.”
A number of CNN investigations, and others by human rights groups, have established Wagner’s involvement in and complicity with atrocities against civilian populations in Sudan, Mali and the Central African Republic, where they have been employed to assist local defense forces against rebellions and insurgencies, and suppress opposition.
The coup has provoked a split reaction from countries in the Sahel region, where the threat of militant extremism in recent years has destabilized local governments and led to volatility.
On Monday, Mali and Burkina Faso’s governments said they would consider any military intervention “an act of war” against them and put their armies on standby.
Mali presidency’s statement said General Mody told his host he had come to explore “ways and means to strengthen our security cooperation, at a time when some countries are planning to intervene militarily in our country.”
The statement comes after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday threatened to use force if Niger’s ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum, was not reinstated within one week.
ECOWAS also imposed a travel ban and asset freeze for the military officials involved in the coup attempt, as well as for their family members and civilians who accept to participate in any institutions or government established by the officials.
Burkina Faso and Mali expressed their solidarity with Nigerien authorities and said they would not participate in any measures against Niger by ECOWAS, calling the sanctions “illegal, illegitimate and inhuman.” Guinea also expressed its solidarity with Niger on Monday.
US Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon arrived in Niger on Saturday, the State Department announced, taking up her post as the United States and partners continue to grapple with the military takeover in that country.
“Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon has traveled to Niamey to lead our diplomatic mission in Niger and bolster efforts to help resolve the political crisis at this critical time. As a career senior diplomat with significant experience specializing in West Africa, she is uniquely positioned to lead U.S. government efforts in support of the American community and the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
FitzGibbon arrived in the capital city of Niamey more than three weeks after members of the presidential guard detained democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and declared themselves the new leaders of the country. US officials continue to insist that there is a window to convince the junta leaders to step down and restore democratic rule to the West African nation, which serves as a critical partner to the US in the region.
However, diplomatic efforts – including a trip to Niger by Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland – thus far have not yielded any progress, and the prospect of a military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States still looms.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Wednesday that FitzGibbon, who was confirmed by the Senate in late July after a lengthy wait, “is going there to lead the mission during a critical time and to support the American community and to coordinate on the US Government’s efforts.”
“Her arrival does not reflect a change in our position, and we continue to advocate for a diplomatic solution that respects the constitutional order in Niger, and for the immediate release of President Bazoum and his family,” Patel said. “We remain committed to working with African partners to promote security, stability, and democratic governance in the Sahel, and Ambassador FitzGibbon will be an integral piece of that when she gets to post in Niamey.”
It is unclear, however, what sort of diplomatic engagements FitzGibbon will be able to hold amid the state of uncertainty in Niger.
A source told CNN that one of the first things FitzGibbon intends to do is call Bazoum. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with the detained president numerous times, but Nuland was not permitted to visit him during her trip to Niamey.
Nuland was also not granted a meeting with the self-proclaimed new leader of Niger, General Abdourahmane Tiani, and instead met with the self-proclaimed chief of defense, Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, and three colonels supporting him.
The Biden administration on Tuesday formally declared that the military takeover in Niger was a coup – a determination that will keep a significant amount of US military and foreign assistance to the West African nation on hold.
The decision was made because “we’ve exhausted all available avenues to preserve constitutional order in Niger,” a senior administration official said Tuesday.
Niger – once a key partner to the US – saw a breakdown of democratic order in late July when military putschists seized power and placed President Mohamed Bazoum under house arrest.
In the months since, US and international partners have urged the military junta, which calls itself the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland (CNSP), to restore democratic leadership, but those efforts have been rebuffed.
As a result of Tuesday’s decision, the foreign assistance programs to the Nigerien government that were paused in August will remain suspended. In addition, $442 million in Millennium Challenge Corporation funding has been halted, the senior administration official said.
Humanitarian assistance will continue, the official added.
In addition, counterterrorism operations will remain paused, a second senior administration official said, as will US “activities to build the capacity of the Nigerien armed forces through security cooperation programs.” Other security cooperation that is not subject to restrictions because of the coup determination will also remain suspended until the coup leadership “takes action towards restoring democratic governance,” this official said.
However, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations out of Agedaz Air Base will continue “focused on force protection, monitoring for threats to our forces, including threats from violent extremist organizations,” another official said.
The second official noted that the US military presence in Niger had already been “consolidated” into two locations, and there are not plans at this time to change the force posture.
US Ambassador to Niger Kathleen FitzGibbon, who arrived in the country in August, will remain, the first official said. She has not presented her credentials “but she is engaging in informal discussions with CNSP leaders, mainly to protect our staff and our interests and to handle logistical issues,” they said.
“We’ve informed the CNSP already of our need to suspend certain assistance programs” due to the coup designation, the official said.
On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Bazoum. The first official said they have no indication of when Bazoum might be released from house arrest, but indicated he may have to leave Niger.
In the weeks following July’s military takeover, there were some concerns that Russian mercenary groups like the Wagner Group would try to take advantage of the situation, particularly given their presence in neighboring Mali.
“I’m sure that they (the Wagner Group) would like to try and look for openings in Niger to see if they could take advantage,” the first official said Tuesday.
“So far, we have not seen any evidence that they have succeeded, and I think largely because the CNSP recognizes that there would be nothing positive that could result from their involvement,” they said.
Blinken described it as an “interim measure” and said it does not impact all foreign assistance programs.
“Most importantly, the provision of life-saving humanitarian and food assistance will continue,” Blinken said in a statement. “Further, we are continuing U.S. government activities in Niger where feasible to do so, including diplomatic and security operations, for the protection of U.S. personnel.”
“This is consistent with steps taken by ECOWAS and the African Union,” he said. “The U.S. government will continue to review our foreign assistance and cooperation as the situation on the ground evolves consistent with our policy objectives and legal restrictions.”
“As we have made clear since the outset of this situation, the provision of U.S. assistance to the government of Niger depends on democratic governance and respect for constitutional order,” Blinken said.
Indeed, Blinken and others have reiterated that US assistance is at risk unless the coup leaders restore democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to power.
The US and partners have been engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts to try to restore democratic rule to Niger, which had become a point of stability in the Sahel region. The Economic Community of West African States has warned that they will use military force unless the coup leaders back down by Sunday.
“We’re working hard with ECOWAS to coordinate the negotiations,” a senior State Department official said Thursday. “We have our own equities as well, so, we’re also working with them, the military in Niger, to understand the consequences of, if this succeeds, what that would mean for our partnership going forward.”
In recent days, the US State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel and family members from the country, though the embassy remains open and the roughly 1,100 US troops stationed in Niger remain there.
All of Niger’s borders had been closed after an announcement by the coup makers on state television last week when President Mohamed Bazoum was removed.
Niger has announced the reopening of its borders with several of its neighbours a week after a coup that has been condemned by foreign powers and raised fears of a wider conflict in West Africa’s Sahel region.
“The land and air borders with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya and Chad are reopened from August 1, 2023,” a spokesperson for the transitional military government said on state television.
The government closed the borders on July 26 while announcing that it had removed democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum from power.
The borders that have reopened are mainly in remote desert areas. Niger’s key entryways for trade and commerce remain closed due to restrictions imposed by the regional bloc.
Niger’s coup was the seventh military takeover in less than three years in Western and Central Africa.
On Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened to use force if soldiers do not reinstate Bazoum after a one-week ultimatum.
In response, Burkina Faso and Mali, which have seen two coups apiece since 2020, banded together in opposition to the rest of the 15-nation regional bloc, saying they would consider external aggression in Niger as a declaration of war.
Defence chiefs from ECOWAS are set to start a two-day meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Niger.
A delegation from the regional bloc was also expected to arrive in Niger’s capital Niamey on Wednesday to start talks with the military government, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani.
Already, the first military planes carrying mostly European nationals landed in Paris and Rome on Wednesday, although there has been no announcement of foreign troops being withdrawn so far.
France, the United States, Germany, and Italy have troops in Niger on counterinsurgency and training missions, helping the army to fight groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday there were no concerns about the safety of German soldiers.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also said any Western military intervention to restore democracy must be ruled out as it would be “perceived as a new colonisation”.
The army said the decision was necessary to avoid fighting within the armed forces, it said.
Niger’s army has declared allegiance to the defense and security forces that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday, according to a statement on Thursday signed by Abdou Sidikou Issa, the army chief of staff.
The statement, posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, said the decision was necessary to avoid fighting within the armed forces.
— Forces Armées Nigériennes (@ArmeesNiger) July 27, 2023
Members of the Presidential Guard had detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside his palace in the capital Niamey.
In a statement broadcast on national television, Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, spokesperson for a group calling itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country said “the defence and security forces … have decided to put an end to the regime you are familiar with”.
“This follows the continuous deterioration of the security situation, the bad social and economic management,” he added.
The soldier said the country’s borders were closed and a nationwide curfew was in place. All institutions of the country were also suspended, he added.
Abdramane was seated and flanked by nine other officers wearing fatigues as he read out his statement.
Wednesday’s incident has sparked global condemnation.
PARIS — An ongoing military coup in Niger is threatening to destabilize one of the last Western allies in Africa’s Sahel region.
On Wednesday night, Niger’s top military brass announced on national television they had overthrown the country’s president Mohamed Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021.
“We, the Defense and Security Forces, united within the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, have decided to put an end to the regime you know,” Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane said, according to Agence France-Presse. “This follows the continuing deterioration of the security situation, and poor economic and social governance,” he added.
A change of regime in Niger could be a blow to the West — and more specifically to France and the United States, who have strong ties to the West African nation.
For both Paris and Washington, Niger is a strategic country in the fight against Islamist terrorism. Viewed as “one of the most reliable U.S. allies” against al Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram, it’s also one of the last Sahel nations that hasn’t deepened cooperation with Russia to the West’s detriment.
According to Le Monde, there are no obvious signs of Moscow’s footprint in the Niger coup, which is mostly driven by internal matters.
However the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit led by Yevgeny Prigozhin that is active in Africa, claimed credit for the coup Thursday.
“What happened is the struggle of the people of Niger against the colonialists,” Prigozhin said in a voice message posted in a Wagner-branded Telegram channel. “This is actually gaining independence and getting rid of the colonialists.” ㅤ “This shows the effectiveness of Wagner,” Prigozhin continued. “A thousand Wagner fighters are able to restore order and destroy terrorists, preventing them from harming the civilian population of states.”
The same channel also posted a photo of Prigozhin shaking hands with an unidentified man on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit being hosted in St Petersburg by President Vladimir Putin. The posts appeared intended as a demonstration of strength by Prigozhin, who led a mutiny last month in which his troops marched to within 200 km of Moscow before standing down.
For France, Bazoum’s forced departure would mark yet another setback in the region, only months after French troops had to withdraw from neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, effectively ending the Barkhane operation.
Paris, whose influence in West Africa has been significantly waning in recent years, has reportedly deployed about 1,500 French soldiers in Niger. The government in Niger has expressed satisfaction at the bilateral military agreement. The country was supposed to be a “laboratory” for a new type of military relationship based on equal-footing cooperation between France — a former colonial power — and African governments.
The French foreign affairs ministry issued a statement overnight expressing “concerns” about the events, adding it “firmly condemns any attempt to seize power by force.” The ministry also released a warning message for French citizens living in Niger, urging them to limit movements and follow safety instructions.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Bazoum overnight and expressed the U.S.’s “unwavering” support. “The strong U.S. economic and security partnership with Niger depends on the continuation of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights,” according to a statement.
For France, the coup’s timing is challenging, as French President Emmanuel Macron is on a five-day visit to the Indo-Pacific region with his Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu and most of his staff. Blinken is currently also in the region.
Douglas Busvine contributed to this report. This story has been updated with comments by Prigozhin.
