Niger Blames France for Failed Mutiny, Paris Denies Involvement

Niger blamed France for inciting last week's thwarted military mutiny, according to a government statement read on television on Friday, September 5.

Niger's Council of Ministers concluded that the attack had been incited by a vast network of accomplices led by France, Niger's former colonial power. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot denied any involvement of France in the attack, calling the accusations pure fantasies and a way of wrongly blaming France. On August 29, disgruntled soldiers attacked a strategic army base in Niamey and fired shots near the presidential palace.

The army and its Russian paramilitary allies eventually neutralized the mutiny. The unrest killed three members of the presidential guard, according to Niger's Foreign Affairs Ministry, with AFP reporting a total of five deaths, including civilians. Niger stated it has compiled a substantial body of evidence regarding this attack and reserves the right to bring the matter before international courts.

A Nigerian military official had appeared on television on Tuesday to accuse several states, including France, Ivory Coast, and Benin, of supporting the mutiny. The Nigerian government denied claims that it backed the failed Niger coup, describing the allegations as false, baseless, and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. Niger, like Burkina Faso and Mali, has sought closer ties with Russia since the 2023 coup that brought General Abdourahamane Tiani to power.

Tiani had previously blamed France and other West African countries for unrest in the capital earlier this year, without providing evidence. Reporters Without Borders called for an investigation into the disappearance of Moussa Kaka, director of a television station in Niger and former correspondent for Radio France International, days after the failed coup.