Joe Biden’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has refused to rule out U.S. support for an invasion of Niger, where the Western-backed president has been turfed out of office the military amid accusations of corruption.
“On Niger, we… want to see President Bazoum’s administration sustained,” Kirby said when asked if the U.S. would support an ECOWAS invasion. “I’m not going to speculate about intervention one way or another from ECOWAS or anybody else,” he added, refusing to rule out U.S. support for or participation in military action.
Niger, a key state in the Sahel region which stretches along the Sahara from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, hosts thousands of soldiers from America and France, many of them driven there after military coups in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali saw their new rulers realign with Russia and, in Mali’s case, bring in Wagner Group forces.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), comprised of Western-backed governments, has vowed to invade Niger to reinstate the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum – and the Joe Biden administation, which strongly backs Bazoum, has refused to rule out supporting such an initiative.
An ECOWAS invasion, which is likely to be spearheaded by Nigeria, to Niger’s immediate south, could result in a substantial regional war, with Burkina Faso and Mali having warned they will consider an attack on Niger an attack on themselves.
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