The new military junta in Niger has asked the Russian mercenary group Wagner for help. The request came during a visit to Mali by the coup leader, General Salifou Mody, The West African regional bloc’s ultimatum expires this Sunday.
Niger’s new military junta has appealed to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for help as the end of an ultimatum demanding the military release the ousted president draws near.
ADVERTISING
If this demand is not met, they would face possible military intervention by the West African regional bloc.
The petition came during **a visit to Mali by coup leader General Salifou Mody, where he made contact with a Wagner insider,** Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior researcher at the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press.
Western countries fear that Niger will fall under Russian influence after the coup, especially since Mali has hosted up to 1,000 Wagner Group fighters.
international concern
“**There is still a little time for the coup leaders to regain power and listen to the unanimous demands of the countries of the region and the international community,”**declared Catherine Colonna, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs.
“And if not, I think we need to take very seriously the threat that these countries resort to intervention, a threat that is credible,” he added.
Josep Borrell, the head of foreign affairs for the EU, expressed his concern on Twitter (now X) about the escalation that would have serious consequences for an already fragile region, and called for an immediate return to constitutional order.
Burkina Faso and another Malian-led military junta have taken the unusual step of declaring that foreign military intervention in neighboring Niger following last week’s coup would also be considered a declaration of war against them.
The West African regional bloc’s ultimatum expires this Sunday. Then, the heads of state of the countries of the region will decide on a possible intervention.
The Nigerian M62 collective is preparing a large mobilization this Sunday in Niamey to express its support for the coup junta.
The governments of Nigeria, Benin, the Ivory Coast and Senegal have confirmed the availability of their armies for eventual military intervention in Niger.
#Niger #military #junta #asks #Wagner
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/GTZ6HUOE5JBGJO45E6KJDYXBBU.jpg "The torch sit-in: the opposition gathers at a military monument to remember the victory of the 'no' in the plebiscite 2")
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/JT36JFDH6VEE7OAG5EGYS6HRQA.jpg "Let's give a match 5")
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/ATEXVTWC2BHJVJDJHRE55QZYCQ.jpg "Saudi Arabia punishes critical tweets with up to the death penalty or 45 years in prison 6")
