DAKAR, Senegal — Days after Niger’s military junta declared the presence of U.S. troops in that West African nation to be “illegal,” American officials are seeking in closed-door talks to determine if they can retain some sort of security presence in the country, which has been the United States’ closest regional ally. U.S. officials say … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — The United States scrambled on Sunday to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel after Niger’s junta said it was ending its yearslong military cooperation with Washington following a visit by top U.S. officials. The U.S. military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in northern Niger … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — The military junta ruling Niger — which until last year was seen as a major ally of the United States in West Africa — announced Saturday on state television that it was ending its military relationship with the United States. The announcement by a spokesman for the junta government, which overthrew Niger’s … Read more
ACCRA, Ghana – ECOWAS flag with member flags at the second extraordinary summit on the political situation in Burkina Faso, in Accra, Ghana, on February 3, 2022. Photo by NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images Three West African countries currently under the rule of military juntas have announced plans to exit the Economic Community of West … Read more
ABUJA, Nigeria — Monthslong tension between three coup-hit countries in West Africa and the regional bloc known as ECOWAS boiled over when the nations announced their immediate withdrawal from the bloc and accused it of a lack of support and “inhumane” coup-related sanctions. In their joint statement on Sunday, the juntas of Niger, Mali and … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — Three nations in Africa’s Sahel region announced Sunday that they were leaving the area’s most important political and economic bloc, deepening a rift between those countries’ military juntas and other states in West Africa. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso issued a joint statement accusing the Economic Community of West African States, or … Read more
ABUJA, Nigeria — France on Friday completed the withdrawal of its troops after they were asked to leave Niger by the country’s new junta, ending years of on-the-ground military support and raising concerns from analysts about a gap in the fight against jihadi violence across the Sahel region of Africa. The last French military aircraft … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — France will close its diplomatic mission in Niger following this summer’s coup d’etat in the West African nation and a souring of relations between the two countries, according to a letter sent to embassy staff and seen by The Associated Press. The news that the embassy in Niger’s capital Niamey is to … Read more
JOHANNESBURG — Niger fashion designer Alia Bare took center stage at the Joburg Fashion Week with a collection that she hopes will spread a positive image of her troubled country, suffering from instability and economic sanctions that followed a military coup earlier this year. Bare is one of several African designers that descended on Johannesburg, … Read more
NIAMEY, Niger — Hamsa Diakite can’t remember the last time her family of eight had a good meal. She once sustained them by selling fried bread until a coup in Niger three months ago resulted in sanctions against the West African nation, squeezing incomes in one of the world’s poorest countries and leaving millions like … Read more