If profitable, this might mark the most recent in a string of coups in Africa in recent times, following these in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad and Sudan, and will result in additional uncertainty in a West African area already grappling with spiraling violence from Islamist insurgencies. An unlimited West African nation of 25 million, Niger has been a key Western accomplice within the struggle towards the extremists, each within the Lake Chad area and close to Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso.
The nation, led by Bazoum since 2021, has additionally been an essential ally for the West because the Russian mercenary group Wagner has focused its neighbors within the area, together with Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, the place Wagner has already made substantial inroads, with not less than 1,000 contractors working there.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated at a information convention in New Zealand that he was monitoring developments in Niger “very intently.” He stated he had spoken with Bazoum earlier within the morning “and made clear that the US resolutely helps him because the democratically elected president, and we name for his quick launch.”
“We condemn any efforts to grab energy by power,” Blinken stated. “We’re actively engaged with the Niger authorities, but in addition with companions within the area and around the globe and can proceed to take action till the state of affairs is resolved appropriately and peacefully.”
The nation’s army and air power have acquired help and coaching from the US, and Nigerien army officers have skilled in the US, together with on the Air Pressure Academy in Colorado and on the Air Struggle Faculty in Alabama, in accordance with a 2021 abstract launched by the U.S. Embassy in Niamey, Niger’s capital. About 800 U.S. troops at a time have been deployed to Niger, Pentagon officers have stated, and the U.S. army operates drones from an air base in Agadez, in central Niger.
Molly Phee, a senior State Division official targeted on the area, advised reporters in March that Niger is “one in every of our most essential companions on the continent by way of safety cooperation.”
U.S. Africa Command, which is liable for American army relations in Africa, stated in a press release that it continues to “monitor the state of affairs in Niamey” and is working with the State Division.
Six years in the past, Niger was the location of a horrifying assault on U.S. troops through which militants ambushed after which hunted down U.S. and Nigerien troopers. 4 American troopers had been killed close to the western village of Tongo Tongo in an incident that raised questions on how properly U.S. troops are supported in far-flung areas.
Niger has skilled 4 coups since its independence from France in 1960. Bazoum was elected in a peaceable, democratic election following two phrases underneath Mahamadou Issoufou.
Within the assertion learn on TV, the army officers stated they eliminated Bazoum due to “the deteriorating safety state of affairs and unhealthy governance.”
Earlier within the day, a tweet on Bazoum’s official web page had blamed members of the President Guard for partaking in an “anti-Republican transfer” and making an attempt to realize the help of the Nationwide Armed Forces and Nationwide Guard. By Wednesday night, that tweet had been deleted.
Blinken underscored on Twitter that the partnership with Niger “relies on the continuation of democratic governance.” U.S. legislation prohibits army help from going to governments which have seized energy by way of coups.
Blinken stated that it’s for legal professionals to find out whether or not the developments in Niger technically represent a coup.
“However what it clearly constitutes is an effort to grab energy by power and to disrupt the structure,” he stated, including that he had been in dialog with counterparts in France and different allies concerning the state of affairs, and that the U.S. Embassy in Niamey was monitoring the security of U.S. residents within the nation.
Michael Birnbaum in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.
