The Biden government is preparing a partial evacuation of its embassy in Niger, West Africa, after launching a sanctions war against its new military government.
Niger’s former leader, Mohamed Bazoum, was seized by the Presidential Guard last week, in a move that ultimately won the backing of the wider armed forces. Announcing the coup in a televised address, officers cited “the continuing degradation of the security situation [and] bad economic and social governance” as motivating factors, with many believing Bazoum had not adequately supported their efforts to contain insurgents from the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram.
Niger plays host to over a thousand U.S. troops and a similar number of soldiers from France, tasked primarily with helping combat jihadist militants in the Sahel region. Both countries have condemned the coup, not least because similar coups in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have seen their new military governments align with Russia, with the former expelling French troops and inviting Wagner mercenaries in.
Niger citizens protesting in support of the coup and carrying Russian flags have already attacked the French embassy, and the French are conducting a more extensive evacuation than the one the Biden administration is planning, with all French nations urged to leave the country.
The Western-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) claims it will take “all measures necessary” to restore Bazoum to power, up to and including “the use of force” – a contingency that would likely involve an invasion via Nigeria, which has already cut power supplies to Niger.
Burkina Faso and Mali, however, have warned they would consider such an invasion a “declaration of war” on their own countries, potentially sparking a substantial regional war. The news comes as yet another major international and foreign policy embarrassment for President Joe Biden.
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