Niger residents, fearing invasion, call for army recruitment to protect coup – National | 24CA News
Nigeriens are making ready for a potential invasion by international locations within the area, three weeks after mutinous troopers ousted the nation’s democratically elected president.
Residents within the capital, Niamey, are calling for the mass recruitment of volunteers to help the military within the face of a rising risk by the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which says it’s going to use navy pressure if the junta doesn’t reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum. ECOWAS has activated a “standby force” to revive order in Niger after the junta ignored a deadline to launch and reinstate Bazoum.
The initiative, spearhead by a gaggle of locals in Niamey, goals to recruit tens of 1000’s of volunteers from throughout the nation to register for the Volunteers for the Defense of Niger. The group would battle, help with medical care, and supply technical and engineering logistics amongst different features, in case the junta wants assist, Amsarou Bako, one of many founders, informed The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“It’s an eventuality. We need to be ready whenever it happens,” he stated. The recruitment drive will launch Saturday in Niamey in addition to in cities the place invasion forces would possibly enter, equivalent to close to the borders with Nigeria and Benin, two international locations which have stated they might take part in an intervention. Anyone over 18 years previous can register and the checklist can be given to the junta to name upon individuals if wanted, stated Bako. The junta will not be concerned however is conscious of the initiative, he stated.
Regional tensions are deepening because the standoff between Niger and ECOWAS exhibits no indicators of defusing, regardless of indicators from each side that they’re open to resolving the disaster peacefully. Last week the junta stated it was open to dialogue with ECOWAS after rebuffing the bloc’s a number of efforts at talks, however shortly afterwards charged Bazoum with “high treason” and recalled its ambassador from neighboring Ivory Coast.
ECOWAS protection chiefs are anticipated to fulfill this week for the primary time for the reason that bloc introduced the deployment of the “standby” pressure. It’s unclear when or if the pressure will invade, however it might in all probability embrace a number of thousand troops and would have devastating penalties, battle specialists say.
“A military intervention with no end in sight risks triggering a regional war, with catastrophic consequences for the vast Sahel that is already plagued by insecurity, displacement and poverty,” stated Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a world threat intelligence firm.
Niger was seen as one of many final democratic international locations within the Sahel area south of the Sahara Desert, and a associate for Western nations within the effort to beat again rising jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. France, the previous colonial ruler of Niger, and the United States have roughly 2,500 navy personnel within the area that practice Niger’s navy and, within the case of France, conduct joint operations.
Since the coup, France and the U.S. have suspended navy operations and jihadi assaults are growing. At least 17 troopers have been killed and almost two dozen wounded in an ambush by extremists within the Tillaberi area, stated the Ministry of Defense on state tv on Tuesday. The assault occurred Tuesday afternoon when a navy detachment was touring between Boni and Torodi villages. The wounded have been evacuated to Niamey.
It was the primary main assault in opposition to Niger’s military in six months and is a worrying signal of potential escalation, stated Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior analysis fellow on the Soufan Center.
“What we are witnessing today is both jihadi warring factions, the Islamic State group and (al-Qaida affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin), marking their territory because of the security void caused by the coup. This definitely should be seen in the context of the ongoing war between the two groups,” he stated.
Analysts say the longer the coup drags on, the much less doubtless an intervention will happen because the junta cements its grip on energy, doubtless forcing the worldwide group to simply accept the established order.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday there was nonetheless room for diplomacy to return the nation to constitutional rule and stated the U.S. supported ECOWAS’ dialogue efforts, together with its contingency plans.
The new U.S. ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, is predicted to reach in Niamey on the finish of the week, in response to a U.S. official. The United States hasn’t had an envoy within the nation for almost two years. Some Sahel specialists say this has left Washington with much less entry to key gamers and data.
“The U.S is in a difficult situation with no good choices,” stated Michael Shurkin, a senior fellow on the Atlantic Council and director of world applications at 14 North Strategies, an Africa-focused threat advisory. “It either sticks to a principled position and pushes for democracy while alienating the junta and risk pushing it into Russia’s arms, or we give up on principle and work with the junta in the hope of salvaging a productive working relationship.”
While regional and western international locations scramble for easy methods to reply, many Nigeriens are satisfied they’ll quickly be invaded.
The particulars of Niger’s volunteer pressure are nonetheless imprecise, however related initiatives in neighboring international locations have yielded combined outcomes. Volunteer fighters in Burkina Faso, recruited to assist the military battle its jihadi insurgency, have been accused by rights teams and locals of committing atrocities in opposition to civilians.
Bako, one of many heads of the group organizing Nigerien volunteers, stated Niger’s state of affairs is totally different.
“The (volunteers in Burkina Faso) are fighting the Burkinabe who took weapons against their own brothers … The difference with us is our people will fight against an intrusion,” he stated.
Associated Press reporters Dalatou Mamane in Niamey and Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C. contributed
© 2023 The Canadian Press
