(today)
The Nigerian military has said in the past that the group has roots in neighboring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup. That coup resulted in fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger, and affected their multinational military operations along the porous border.
(December 9, 2025)
A Nigerian military aircraft, carrying 11 personnel, is detained in Burkina Faso for alleged airspace violation.
Burkina Faso, a member of the Alliance of Sahel States, claims the aircraft‘s presence was an unfriendly act that breached sovereignty.
The Sahel States Alliance has condemned the incident, emphasizing heightened alert for airspace protection.
The detention follows recent Nigerian airstrikes in Benin targeting coup plotters, which adds tension in the region.
(December 16, 2025)
Between 2020 and 2025, nine coup attempts toppled five democratic governments and two military ones. The latest successful coup, in Guinea-Bissau, happened on November 28. Bissau-Guineans had voted in the presidential election some days before and were waiting for the results to be announced when the military seized the national television station, detained incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and announced a new military leader.
ECOWAS, whose high-level delegation was in Bissau to monitor the electoral process when the coup happened, appeared on the back foot, unable to do much more than issue condemnatory statements. Those statements sounded similar to those it issued after the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea.
(December 22, 2025)
Karr said the operation was an early sign the U.S. was rebuilding its capacity in the region after Niger ordered U.S. troops to leave a sprawling, newly built air base in the desert last year, and turned instead to Russia for security assistance.
„In recent weeks we‘ve seen a resumption of intelligence and surveillance flights in Nigeria,“ Karr said in an interview.
A former U.S. official said the aircraft is among several assets the Trump administration moved to Ghana in November.
(December 9, 2024)
According to the bloc, the departure of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger becomes effective one year after the announcement, in January 2025.
The trio have formed the Alliance of Sahel States after severing ties with France and pivoting towards Russia.
Gut zwei Monate nach dem Militärputsch in Niger hat Frankreich mit dem Abzug seiner Truppen aus dem westafrikanischen Staat begonnen. Der Generalstab bestätigte der Nachrichtenagentur dpa, dass der Rückzug heute losgegangen sei.
(Sept. 13, 2023)
The Biden administration has not officially declared the removal of President Mohammad Bazoum a coup, a legal move that would require the U.S. to cut off military assistance under U.S. law.
Since the coup, current and former U.S. officials have stressed that there might still be some hope the U.S. could reach an agreement to resume counterterrorism efforts.
(25.09.2023)
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday 1,500 troops would withdraw by the end of the year, dealing a huge blow to French influence and counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel region.
(September 25, 2023)
“We are putting an end to our military cooperation with the de facto authorities of Niger because they don’t want to fight terrorism anymore,” Macron said regarding the military leaders who took over rule of the northwest African country.
(17.09.2023)
All three countries have undergone coups since 2020, most recently Niger, where soldiers in July overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum.
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to intervene militarily in Niger over the coup.
Mali and Burkina Faso quickly responded by saying that any such operation would be deemed a “declaration of war” against them.
All three countries have undergone coups since 2020, most recently Niger, where soldiers in July overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum.
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to intervene militarily in Niger over the coup.
Mali and Burkina Faso quickly responded by saying that any such operation would be deemed a “declaration of war” against them.
All three states were members of the France-supported G5 Sahel alliance joint force with Chad and Mauritania, launched in 2017 to tackle extremists in the region.
Mali has since left the dormant organisation after a military coup, while deposed Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum said in May last year that the force is now “dead” following Mali’s departure.
The US government is considering whether to assassinate the leaders of the new military administration in Niger, who seized power in late July, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said.
While the White House is “not satisfied” with events in the former French colony, it does not want to rely on military intervention by Niger’s regional neighbors, the assessment released by the SVR on Thursday claimed. Washington considers that a ‘wetwork’ solution by a proxy would be preferable to military action by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Russian agency said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to say how many personnel would be departing and how many were repositioning within Niger from Air Base 101 in Niamey, the capital, to Air Base 201 in the city of Agadez.
Before this movement, there were 1,100 troops in the West African country.
“The government has already revoked the deals that allow for the French troops to operate on our territory,” Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine told reporters in the capital, Niamey, on Monday. “They’re here illegally. Talks are underway, which should allow for a swift withdrawal.”
(02.09.2023)
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside a French military base in Niger‘s capital Niamey on Saturday demanding that its troops leave in the wake of a military coup that has widespread popular support but which Paris refuses to recognise.
The Rwandan leader, known for his brutal crackdown on the media and opposition, also retired 83 senior officers, 06 junior officers and 86 senior non-commissioned officers, 678 end-of-contract officers, while 160 were discharged on medical grounds discharges,” the statement said.
In Cameroon, Mr Biya, who spends most of his time in Switzerland, is also not leaving his grip on the country to chance as he immediately shuffled the officers in the army, air force and marine.
The sweeping changes in Cameroon and Rwanda came barely hours after the coup in Gabon, where President Ali Bongo Ondimba was toppled and placed under house arrest by soldiers. Both leaders did not reference the coups in Niger and Gabon in their respective decisions.
(August 22, 2023)
The situation is complicated by the fact that three other members of the 15-member ECOWAS are suspended because they have had their own military coups in recent years. These countries — Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, all former French colonies in the Sahel — have indicated they may side with Niger’s military government in the event of a war.
In Reaktion auf den Umsturz in Niamey haben Berlin und Paris jedenfalls gemeinsam Sanktionen gegen führende Mitglieder der Junta vorgeschlagen, was der EU-Außenbeauftragte Josep Borrell aufgegriffen hat. Baerbock betonte, dass man sich dabei eng abgestimmt habe mit der Regionalorganisation Ecowas, der 15 westafrikanische Staaten angehören.
Following in the footsteps of the West African regional body ECOWAS, the EU aims to slap the same sanctions on the junta that seized power in Niger several weeks ago, EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed in Toledo, Spain on Wednesday (30 August).
On Wednesday, the oil-rich nation of Gabon became the eighth Central or West African country to be hit by a military takeover in the last three years. The EU has not been training Gabon‘s armed forces -– although French troops have -– but it has funded and taught troops in Mali and Niger.
The CFA franc zone consists of 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, each affiliated with one of two monetary unions. Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo comprise the West African Economic and Monetary Union, or WAEMU, founded in 1994 to build on the foundation of the West African Monetary Union, founded in 1973. The remaining six countries — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon — comprise the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, or CAEMC.
These two unions maintain the same currency, the CFA franc, which stands for Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) within WAEMU and Coopération Financière en Afrique Centrale (Financial Cooperation in Central Africa) within CAEMC. WAEMU and CAEMC account for 14 percent of Africa’s population and 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
The junta led by Brig. Gen. Abdrahmane Tchiani ordered the Nigerien armed forces to go on maximum alert over “threats of aggression to the national territory” and asked the military-led governments of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso to send troops to help defend them.
During a major foreign policy speech to ambassadors gathered in Paris, Macron confirmed that French envoy Sylvain Itte was listening in from Niger capital Niamey despite being given a 48-hour deadline to leave the country last Friday.
(21.08.2023)
Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz hat bei einer kürzlichen Wahlkampfrede in München anwesende Kritiker des Kurses der Bundesregierung schwer beleidigt, wie Medien berichten. Im Laufe der Rede sagte Scholz an die Bürger gewandt, die für Waffenstillstand und Verhandlungen im Ukrainekrieg eintreten:
„Und die, die hier mit Friedenstauben rumlaufen, sind deshalb vielleicht gefallene Engel, die aus der Hölle kommen, weil sie letztendlich einem Kriegstreiber das Wort reden.“
In diesem Screenshot eines Videos der FAZ sind einige dieser „Höllen-Kreaturen“ zu sehen. Sie fordern etwa „Verhandeln statt Schießen!“ und setzen sich für „Waffenstillstand und Friedensverhandlungen“ ein:
On Thursday, the bloc ordered the deployment of a “standby” force to restore constitutional rule in Niger, with Nigeria, Benin, Senegal and Ivory Coast saying they would contribute troops.
But it’s unclear when, how or if the troops will deploy. The move could take weeks or months to set into motion, and while the bloc decides what to do the junta is gaining power, some observers say.
Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the Nigerian delegation, made the announcement on Sunday, a day after his group held talks with General Abdourahamane Tchiani in the Nigerien capital Niamey.
The meeting took place as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) explores its options to restore civilian rule in Niger, including potential military intervention,