The U.S. military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in northern Niger that deploys flights over the vast Sahel region where jihadi groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate. File | Photo Credit: Reuters The United States scrambled on March 17 to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations … Read more
West African military chiefs met in Ghana on August 17, 2023 to coordinate a possible armed intervention to reverse a coup in Niger, as Germany called for EU sanctions against the rebel leaders. | Photo Credit: AFP West African army chiefs were due to hold a second and final day of talks on Friday in Ghana’s capital Accra, … Read more
File image for representation. | Photo Credit: REUTERS Seventeen troops died in a jihadist ambush in Niger, the government said, in a reminder of the nation’s deep security crisis as its military rulers face off against neighbours determined to reverse last month’s coup. An army detachment was “the victim of a terrorist ambush near the … Read more
Niger’s military junta says it is severing military agreements with France, its former colonial ruler, firing some of the previous government’s key ambassadors and warning citizens of the West African nation to watch for foreign Armies and spies. A regional delegation’s efforts at negotiation quickly deadlocked. The junta’s announcement on state television late on Thursday … Read more
Protesters hold an anti-France placard during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey on August 3, 2023. | Photo Credit: AFP Niger’s junta must “come to reason” and return power to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum before the country and the wider region collapse, Niamey’s ambassador to Washington said Thursday. “If Niger collapses, the entire Sahel … Read more
Niger’s new military ruler lashed out at neighbouring countries and the international community in a nationally televised speech on August 2 night and called on the population to be ready to defend the nation. In one of the few addresses to the West African country since seizing power from Niger’s democratically-elected president a week ago, … Read more
During a gruelling, weeks-long mission in northern Mali, French soldiers were confronted by a familiar threat: Extremists trying to impose the same strict Islamic rule that preceded France‘s military intervention here more than eight years ago. Traumatized residents showed scars on their shoulders and backs from whippings they endured after failing to submit to the … Read more
President Emmanuel Macron warned in comments published Sunday that France will pull its troops out of Mali if it lurches towards radical Islamism following the second coup in nine months. France has around 5,100 troops in the region under its so-called Barkhane operation which spans five countries in the Sahel — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, … Read more