Image Source : AP/PIXABAY Niger airspace closed
As the coup leaders rejected ECOWAS’s deadline to reinstate the nation’s ousted president, Niger has now closed its airspace till additional discover citing the specter of navy intervention from a regional bloc. In a press release launched on Sunday, a junta consultant mentioned, “In the face of the threat of intervention that is becoming more apparent … Nigerien airspace is closed effective from today.”
According to the junta led by Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, there have been details about the navy intervention from “external forces” as a way to both reinstiate President Mohamed Bazoum’s authorities or an try and free him could be made.
Neighboring Nigeria’s Senate has pushed again towards the plan by the regional bloc generally known as ECOWAS, urging Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s present chair, on Saturday to discover choices apart from using pressure. ECOWAS can nonetheless transfer forward, as remaining choices are made by consensus by member states, however the warning on the eve of the deadline raised questions in regards to the intervention’s destiny.
Notably, ECOWAS— often known as CEDEAO, is a regional political and financial union of fifteen international locations situated in West Africa. The important purpose of this union is to make sure a “collective and self-sufficient” financial system for its member states by making a single massive commerce bloc by constructing a full financial and buying and selling union.
Coup has already sought assist from Wagner group
The July 26 coup, wherein mutinous troopers put in Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as head of state, provides one other layer of complexity to West Africa’s Sahel area that’s scuffling with navy takeovers, spreading Islamic extremism and a shift by some states towards Russia and its proxy, the Wagner mercenary group.
Niger’s ousted President Mohamed Bazoum mentioned he’s held “hostage” by the mutinous troopers. An ECOWAS delegation was unable to satisfy with Tchiani, who analysts have asserted led the coup to keep away from being fired. Now the junta has reached out to Wagner for help whereas severing safety ties with former colonizer France.
Algeria and Chad, non-ECOWAS neighbors with sturdy militaries within the area, have mentioned they oppose using pressure or received’t intervene militarily, and neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — each run by juntas — have mentioned an intervention could be a “declaration of war” towards them, too.
What’s subsequent?
It was not instantly clear on Sunday what ECOWAS would do subsequent. Thousands of individuals at Sunday’s rally in Niger’s capital, Niamey, cheered the coup leaders’ look and expressed defiance towards each the ECOWAS risk and France’s lengthy presence within the area. Some waved Russian flags.
“We will all stand and fight as one people,” declared one of many junta leaders, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba. “We are asking you to stay mobilized.”
Hours earlier than Sunday’s deadline, lots of of youth joined safety forces within the darkened streets within the capital to face guard at a dozen roundabouts till morning, checking vehicles for weapons and heeding the junta’s name to be careful for overseas intervention and spies.
“I’m here to support the military. We are against (the regional bloc). We will fight to the end. We do not agree with what France is doing against us. We are done with colonization,” mentioned Ibrahim Nudirio, one of many residents on patrol. Some passing vehicles honked in assist. Some individuals known as for solidarity amongst African nations.
(With inputs from company)
Also Read: Niger coup: Junta severs navy ties with France, ousted ‘hostage’ chief seeks US intervention
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Source: www.indiatvnews.com
