The Latest Breaking News from Niger

Advisers of detained Mohamed Bazoum say French withdrawal removes coup leaders’ pretext for power grab

Just months after the UN security council greenlighted its peacekeepers' exit from Mali, a new report by the Stimson Centre warns of a "crisis of consent" between the body and the countries relying on its help. Meanwhile, France's announcement that it will bring some 1500 counterterrorism troops back from Niger…

The change comes after Niger's democratically elected president was deposed in a coup. French troops pulled out of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years after coups there.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said France is soon to withdraw its ambassador from Niger, followed by its military contingent in the next months, in the wake of the coup in the west African country that ousted pro-Paris president Mohamed Bazoum.

President Emmanuel Macron says France will end its military presence in Niger and pull its ambassador out of the country after its democratically elected president was deposed in a coup

President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced that France would withdraw its ambassador from Niger, followed by the French military contingent in the coming months, in a move welcomed by Niger's military leaders as a "step towards sovereignty".

The military rulers had been demanding the exit of envoy and troops after Macron refused to recognise the July coup.

Niger's coup leaders accused the head of the United Nations on Friday of obstructing their participation in the body's General Assembly, saying it was "likely to undermine any effort to end the crisis in our country".

The UN chief has called it an epidemic of coups. In Africa, since 2020, military officers have seized power, or attempted to do so, in numerous sub-Saharan countries. Just in the last two and a half months, soldiers in Gabon announced a takeover of power, while in Niger, members of…