military coup
Niger after German evacuation: the situation is getting worse
A German Air Force A400M transport aircraft lands at Wunstorf Air Base. photo
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
According to the Federal Foreign Office, all Germans willing to leave Niger were evacuated. Meanwhile, the situation continues to deteriorate. A delegation from Ecowas has broken off mediation in Niger.
“But we don’t assume that there are still Germans in the country who are willing to leave the country. We are in contact with those who are there and it’s a low double-digit number,” he said. The office advised them not to leave their homes, to avoid crowds and to stay away from public buildings and military installations. However, a diplomatic solution to the conflict seems a long way off.
Ten more Germans were evacuated from Niger on Friday night. These were on board the Bundeswehr aircraft flown to Germany, which landed at the Wunstorf military airfield in Lower Saxony. According to the Bundeswehr, nine soldiers and one civilian were among them. Seven of the German soldiers at the Niamey airlift base were UN peacekeepers from Gao, Mali. They were returning via Niamey as part of a personnel change. Two other soldiers belong to the EU Military Mission in Niger (EUMPM). According to the state TV broadcaster RTVE, Spain finally started an evacuation mission with a Spanish Air Force machine on Friday.
Intermediaries left without result
According to media reports, a mediator mission from the West African community of states Ecowas has meanwhile left Niger’s capital Niamey without meeting the new de facto President Abdourahamane Tiani. Ecowas gave the putschists a seven-day ultimatum last Sunday and called on the new junta to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum within a week. Otherwise, the group will take action that could include violence, it said. For several days, the Ecowas military chiefs in Nigeria’s capital Abuja have been discussing possible further steps.
At the same time, those in power in Niger announced an end to military cooperation with the former colonial power France. This has stationed more than 1000 soldiers in Niger. The end of the cooperation should occur within a month, the junta said in a statement on national television.
Coup “improvised nature”?
Despite the announcements, the Federal Foreign Office does not yet see the takeover of power by the putschists as certain. “The posts for the ministers have still not been filled. The ministries are currently run by high-ranking officials,” said the spokesman. There is no government program. “All of this still suggests that this coup was of a very improvised nature,” he said. It remains unclear how much influence the putschists have beyond the Nigerien state apparatus in Niamey and whether they can count on broad support from the population.
There is no evidence that Russia was directly involved in the coup, but there are indications that Russian disinformation is now emerging. He also pointed to Niger’s environs – Mali and Burkina Faso – where the mercenary group Wagner and Russian security forces are active. “But I think it’s also important to note that Russia supported the declaration in the UN Security Council on restoring the democratically elected government,” said the spokesman. From the Federal Foreign Office’s point of view, it was “still the case that the coup developed in parts of the Presidential Guard and then the rest of the armed forces joined practically at a later point in time”.
West Africa’s military chiefs draw up a plan of intervention
According to the French broadcaster RFI, the military chiefs of the West African community of states Ecowas are now drafting a plan for a possible military intervention in response to the coup in Niger. The recommendation contains “all the elements of a possible intervention, including the resources needed, but also how and when we will use the force,” said Ecowas Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, at the end of a three-day meeting of the Military chiefs in Nigeria’s capital Abuja quoted. The Ecowas heads of state want to use the recommendation to decide how to proceed in Niger.
A few hours earlier, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu had, according to media reports, asked his country’s Senate for approval of military intervention in Niger. Tinubu also chairs Ecowas. The group had given the new rulers a seven-day ultimatum last Sunday and called on the new junta to reinstate Bazoum. Otherwise, Ecowas will take action that could include violence, it said.