![]() ![]() “It is in the interests of all the people of Niger that the important democratic gains made in recent years are safeguarded and preserved,” he added. ![]() United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Thursday he is “shocked and distressed” by the attempted military takeover in Niger, urging “all actors to refrain from violence.” While events inside Niger remained murky, including the precise whereabouts of Bazoum, international criticism of the attempted coup grew overnight. ![]() In 2017, four US special forces soldiers were killed in an ambush by more than 100 ISIS fighters in Niger. Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, has “endemic problems, poverty, and terrorism, so there are many factors contributing to instability in the country,” he added. “If the military is more concerned with domestic politics, then there is a risk that they are no longer going to be fighting the fight against these terrorist groups that are now encroaching on Niger and on the capital,” he added. “It’s a very fragile state and a very fluid situation right now and until we hear more from the coup plotters themselves it’s hard to know exactly what their motivations are right now,” he told CNN. Much of Africa’s Sahel region has found itself confronting Islamist insurgencies, including Niger which has received support from the United States and France in tackling extremists.īut the region has also seen multiple coups in recent years, including in Niger’s neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso.Ĭameron Hudson, a senior associate at the Center for the Strategic and International Studies, said there had been indications that Niger’s military leadership were not pleased with the level of support they were given to fight militants and that a coup could impact that campaign. When Bazoum came to office in 2021, it was the country’s first democratic transfer of power. Niger has a long history of military coups since its independence from France in 1960 however in recent years it had been less politically unstable. ![]() Niger’s presidential office said on Thursday that “hard-won achievements will be safeguarded.” The statement, which was posted on Twitter and is being rebranded as X, made no mention whether Bazoum is still being detained. He said he had spoken to the president, who is “in good health” and has not been harmed. He called on “mutinous officers to return to their ranks” in an interview with French television station France 24, adding that mediation efforts are under way, including those by the president of Nigeria who is “dialoguing with the military.” National institutions have been suspended and the country’s land borders are temporarily closed, he also said, appearing to read from a text on the table before him.įoreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou called the soldiers’ actions “an attempted coup d’etat” but said “the totality of the army was not behind the coup.” In a video communique, a man identified as Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane and flanked by several apparent soldiers, announced, “We have decided to put an end to the regime that you know,” citing a deteriorating security situation in the country and “poor economic and social governance.” Men in military fatigues claimed to have taken power in Niger after President Mohamed Bazoum was reportedly seized by members of the presidential guard on Wednesday, sparking international condemnation and renewed uncertainty in a volatile part of Africa beset by coups and militant extremism. ![]()
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