Niger junta revokes military deals with France
(VOVWORLD) - Niger’s junta revoked a raft of military cooperation agreements with France on Thursday - a decision that could drastically reshape a fight against Islamist insurgents in the region after the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum last week.
France has some 1,000 troops in Niger, helping to fight an insurgency by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that has destabilised West Africa’s Sahel region.
Niger's regional and Western partners, including France, have imposed sweeping sanctions in an effort to pressure the coup leaders to restore constitutional order after Bazoum's ouster - the 7th coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.
But junta leader Abdourahamane Tiani, the former head
of Niger's presidential guard, has said he will not back down. Tiani has won the backing of the juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso and cited persistent insecurity as his main justification for seizing power, even though data on attacks
in the country shows that security has actually been improving.
Ousted president Bazoum said in an opinion piece published Thursday in the Washington Post that he is a hostage and called on the international community to restore constitutional order.