The Niger Army accuses France of deploying troops in preparation for a "military intervention"

Leaders of the Niger coup accused France on Saturday of deploying its troops and military equipment in several neighboring countries in West Africa in preparation for "military intervention." 

In response, Paris stated on Sunday that it does not recognize the "legitimacy of the coup leaders' statements."

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at a press conference after the G20 summit in New Delhi, stated, "We do not recognize the legitimacy of the coup leaders," calling for the "release" of Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been detained since the coup on July 26, and for the "restoration of constitutional order."

Relations with France, Niger's former colonial power, were downgraded after Paris supported Bazoum in the aftermath of the coup.

Colonel Major Amadou Abdel Rahman, a spokesman for the Niger military regime, stated on Saturday that "France continues to deploy its forces in a number of ECOWAS countries (Economic Community of West African States) as part of preparations for an aggression against Niger, planned in collaboration with these groups."

According to Abdel Rahman's statement, the military regime noted that since September 1, 2023, there has been the "deployment of two military transport aircraft of the A400M model and one Dornier 328 in Ivory Coast as part of reinforcements." He added that "two multi-role Super Puma helicopters" and "around 40 armored vehicles" have been deployed "in Candi and Malanville in Benin."

The statement also mentioned that on September 7, 2023, a French military ship anchored in Cotonou, Benin, carrying military personnel and resources.

Furthermore, the military leaders who seized power in Niger spoke of "almost a hundred rotations of military transport planes that allowed for the delivery of large quantities of military equipment to Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, and others."

They considered that the purpose of these maneuvers is to "facilitate military intervention against our country."



AFP