Instability in Niger a problem for the US and its Allies
Last week the military in Niger seized power, detailing President Mohamed Bazoum. A coup that drew international condemnation and the threat of military intervention by ECOWAS, the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
On Sunday Niger’s military junta ignored a demand by ECOWAS to reinstate the president. ECOWAS has imposed sanctions on the military in Niger and called a summit for this Thursday.
There are US and European interests at risk in this crisis. More than one thousand US soldiers are stationed in the country. Washington has spent half a billion dollars training Nigerien armed forces in counterterrorism against Islamist extremism. Niger is a major transit route for migrants heading for Europe. Will this latest coup change any of this? For now, the military junta is in control and warning the outside world not to interfere.
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Credit to : DW News