Niamey

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In this image taken from video provided by ORTN, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, front center, makes a statement on July 26, 2023, in Niamey, Niger, as a delegation of military officers appeared on Niger State TV to read out a series of communiques announcing their coup d'etat. The U.S. is scrambling to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region of Africa after the ruling junta in Niger announced it was ending military cooperation with Washington. (ORTN via AP, File)

Attack on Nigerien forces kills 23 soldiers and underscores continued conflict with militants

Associated Press

Mechanics work on a broken vehicle in Niamey, Niger, Aug. 28, 2023. Families in Niger say they are struggling in the wake of economic sanctions imposed after a military coup three months ago. Neighbouring countries in West Africa have closed their borders with Niger, stymying livestock trade. And residents in the capital, Niamey, say food prices have skyrocketed. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick,file)

Many in Niger are suffering under coup-related sanctions. Junta backers call it a worthy sacrifice

By Dalatou Mamane and Chinedu Asadu - Associated Press

Mouhamadou Ibrahim, a former jihadi commander who decided to defect, poses for a photograph in Niamey, Niger, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. The future of a program in Niger that encourages jihadi fighters to defect and reintegrate into society is unclear after mutinous soldiers toppled the government that launched it. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

A national program in Niger encouraged jihadis to defect. The coup put its future in jeopardy

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Sahr John Yambasu, 29, from Sierra Leone, poses for a photograph in Niamey, Niger, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. After three months of traipsing through the desert and watching people die at sea trying to reach Europe, Yambasu decided to return home. But when he reached Niger in June on his journey back, United Nations officials told him to wait until the packed migrant centers emptied before he could be repatriated. Then weeks later mutinous soldiers toppled Niger's president shuttering the borders and trapping him inside. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Thousands of discouraged migrants are stranded in Niger because of border closures following coup

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Ghana's Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, center, flanked by Lieutenant General Yankuba Drammeh of Gambia, left, and Ivory Coast General Lassina Doumbia listen during the Extraordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of the Defence Staff in Accra, Ghana, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Eshun Nanaresh)

A scramble of last-ditch diplomacy aims at finding a peaceful solution to Niger’s deepening crisis

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Supporters of Niger's ruling junta hold a Russian flag at the start of a protest called to fight for the country's freedom and push back against foreign interference in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 3, 2023. Defense chiefs from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, are meeting in Ghana Thursday Aug. 17, 2023 to discuss Niger's crisis after a deadline passed for mutinous soldiers to release and reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face military intervention. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Leading politician says victory for Niger’s coup leaders would be ‘the end of democracy’ in Africa

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Children run in the streets of Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 13, 2023. Defense chiefs from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, are meeting in Ghana on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, to discuss Niger's crisis after a deadline passed for mutinous soldiers to release and reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face military intervention. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Niger’s neighbors running out of options as defense chiefs meet to discuss potential military force

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger's ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. Nigeriens are preparing for war against regional countries threatening to invade, three weeks after mutinous soldiers ousted the nation’s democratically elected president. Residents in the capital, Niamey, are calling for the mass recruitment of volunteers to assist the army in the face of a growing threat by the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which says it will use military force if the junta doesn’t reinstate the deposed President Mohamed Bazoum. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Nigeriens call for mass recruitment of volunteers as the junta faces possible regional invasion

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

A street merchant waits for customers in Niamey, Niger, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Niger's mutinous soldiers say they will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for "high treason" and undermining state security. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

A human rights group in Niger says it can’t get access to officials who were detained after coup

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

FILE - Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Supporters of Niger's deposed President Mohamed Bazoum have pleaded with the United States and others for weeks to restore the democratically elected leader to power. Now they're making a simpler plea: Save his life. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Niger’s coup leaders say they will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for ‘high treason’

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Nigerien men gather for an anti-French protest in Niamey, Niger, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023.The ECOWAS bloc said it had directed a "standby force" to restore constitutional order in Niger after its deadline to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum expired. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Niger’s junta gains the upper hand over the regional bloc threatening military force, analysts say

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Insa Garba Saidou, coordinator for the Circle for Reflection for Democracy, an umbrella group of local organisations defending human rights and supporting the military regime, poses for a photograph in Niamey, Niger, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. Saidou said that the only way to avoid conflict between mutinous soldiers that ousted the president in Niger and regional countries threatening an invasion to reinstate him, is to recognise the new regime. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

An activist tied to Niger’s junta says its leaders won’t hold talks until the region recognizes them

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

The defense chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries excluding Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Niger pose for a group photo during their extraordinary meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, to discuss the situation in Niger. (AP Photo/ Chinedu Asadu)

West African leaders are meeting on Niger, but options are few as a military junta defies mediation

By Sam Mednick and Chinedu Asadu - Associated Press

Supporters of Niger's ruling junta hold a Russian flag in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. Nigeriens are bracing for a possible military intervention as time's run out for its new junta leaders to reinstate the country's ousted president. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Niger’s military junta digs in with Cabinet appointments and rejects talks

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger's ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. Nigeriens are bracing for a possible military intervention as time's run out for its new junta leaders to reinstate the country's ousted president. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Niger’s neighbors and the U.N. seek to deescalate tensions with last-minute diplomacy

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger's ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. Nigeriens are bracing for a possible military intervention as time's run out for its new junta leaders to reinstate the country's ousted president. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

West African leaders will meet Thursday after Niger’s junta defies key deadline and shuts airspace

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Nigeriens, some holding Russian flags, participate in a march called by supporters of coup leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, July 30, 2023. Not everyone is hostile to last week's coup in Niger. Neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have taken the unusual step of declaring that foreign military intervention in Niger would be a declaration of war against them, too. Both have had coups in recent years. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Bloc backs off on military action as Niger’s coup leaders remain defiant

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

Supporters or Niger's ruling junta, accompanied by some security forces, stand guard at a roundabout in Niamey, Niger, early Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, checking cars for weapons and keeping an eye out for foreign intervention. Nigeriens are bracing for a possible military intervention as time’s run out for its new junta leaders to reinstate the country’s ousted president. Sunday is the final day given by the West Africa regional bloc for mutinous soldiers to release President Mohamed Bazoum who said he’s been taken hostage. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

A deadline arrives for Niger’s junta to reinstate the president. Citizens cheer and fear what’s next

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

French soldiers disembark from a U.S. Air Force C130 cargo plane at Niamey, Niger base, on June 9, 2021. On Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, night, the junta said on state television it was terminating the military agreements and protocols signed with its former colonial ruler, France. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

Mutinous soldiers in Niger sever French military ties while ‘hostage’ president pleads for U.S. help

By Sam Mednick - Associated Press

Supporters of Niger's ruling junta gather at the start of a protest called to fight for the country's freedom and push back against foreign interference in Niamey, Niger, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. The march falls on the West African nation's independence day from its former colonial ruler, France, and as anti-French sentiment spikes, more than one week after mutinous soldiers ousted the country's democratically elected president. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Biden demands Niger leader Bazoum be freed as embassy personnel evacuated after coup

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times