Burkina Faso and Mali, two nations ruled by a junta, said on Monday that any military action to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger will be viewed as a “statement of war against their two nations.
The military-ruled neighbors of Niger issued the warning a day after West African leaders, with the backing of their Western allies, vowed to use “force” to restore the democratically elected Bazoum and imposed economic penalties on the putschists.
The governments of Burkina Faso and Mali issued a joint statement in which they stated that “any military involvement against Niger would be akin to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.”
According to them, a military involvement in Niger would have “disastrous implications that might destabilize the entire region.”
Along with that, the two stated that they “refuse to enforce” the “illegal, unjustified, and inhumane sanctions against the people and authorities of Niger.”
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened to use “all means” to restore constitutional order if Bazoum was not reinstalled within a week during an emergency session on Sunday.
In a statement, it warned that “such actions may include the use of force for this aim.”
Additionally, the bloc imposed economic penalties on the junta’s rulers and the nation, freezing “any commercial and financial activities” between its members and Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries and a frequent bottom-ranker on the UN’s Human Development Index.
Partners from the West and Africa in Niger, a nation that is crucial in the fight against terrorist organizations that have for years terrorized sections of the Sahel area, are increasing pressure on the perpetrators of the July 26 coup to swiftly restore constitutional order.
To aid in the fight against the jihadists, former colonial powers France and the United States have each sent 2,600 soldiers to Niger.
highly hazardous
The junta in Niger claimed on Monday that France was attempting to “intervene militarily” to restore Bazoum. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna refuted this claim.
Colonna responded to the charge by saying, “It’s false,” and adding that it was still “possible” to reinstate the president as leader.
She added on Monday night, “And it’s required because destabilization is dangerous for Niger and its neighbors.”
Following a large demonstration outside the French embassy in Niamey on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron promised “rapid and uncompromising” action if French citizens or interests were targeted. Some attempted to enter the compound, but tear gas dispersed them.
“Organised, not spontaneous, violent, exceedingly hazardous, with Molotov cocktails, Russian flags appearing, and anti-French slogans (that were) an identical duplicate of what you can hear elsewhere,” claimed Colonna of the event.
Russia has urged “caution from all parties” and the speedy restoration of “the rule of law” in Niger.
According to the presidential palace in Paris, Macron has spoken with regional leaders and Bazoum numerous times.
The elite Presidential Guard overthrew Bazoum on July 26. Bazoum was a Western ally whose victory little over two years ago represented Niger’s first peaceful transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960.
General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of the guards, announced himself to be the leader, but his claim was rejected worldwide, and ECOWAS gave him a week to abdicate.
Bazoum is one of the few elected presidents and pro-Western figures left in the Sahel, where Islamic insurgencies have also led to coups in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020.
Following a number of arrests, Bazoum’s PNDS party issued a warning on Monday that Niger risked turning into a “dictatorial and totalitarian dictatorship.”
According to the party, that morning saw the arrests of the nation’s mining and oil ministers. Additionally detained was the chairman of the national executive committee of the PNDS.
According to the PNDS, the junta previously detained a former minister of defense as well as the interior and transport ministers.
The European Union requested their immediate release and denounced the arrest of ministers from the overthrown administration.
jihadists and coups
Following its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, landlocked Niger became the third Sahel nation in less than three years to experience political unrest following a military coup.
A jihadist insurgency in all three countries tore apart weak governments, inflamed military resentment, and inflicted economic harm on some of the world’s poorest nations.
Pro-Russian and anti-French protests have often accompanied the removal of elected leaders.
The junta’s supporters claim that Russia would be a stronger partner than France, the nation’s longtime ally, in protecting them from the jihadists.
An attempted coup in Mali in 2020 resulted in a dispute with France, which last year withdrew its troops as the junta inserted Russian paramilitaries.
Following two coups last year that installed a junta that followed a nationalist agenda, France also left Burkina Faso.
In response to the withdrawals, France revised its ten-year anti-jihadist policy in the Sahel, focusing on Niger, where it has 1,500 troops and a significant air base close to Niamey.
According to the putschists, the most recent coup was a reaction to “the worsening of the security situation” associated with the jihadist conflict, as well as to corruption and financial difficulties.
International naysayers have increased their pressure, focusing on trade and aid for development.
While France, the European Union, and the United States have either cut off funding or threatened to do so, ECOWAS has halted all business and financial activities. Additionally suspended are UN humanitarian efforts.
Since its independence, Niger has experienced four coups as well as countless additional attempts, including two earlier ones against the 63-year-old Bazoum.
