Niger junta bans UN agencies and global NGOs from 'military zones'

Niger's Interior Ministry has announced it's stopping UN agencies and international NGOs from working in military "operation zones" as the country experiences a security crisis following a military coup. 

A patrol of the Niger national Police drives past the French Embassy in Niamey on 28 August 2023. © AFP

A statement broadcast on national radio did not specify which regions in Niger were affected.

Niger has been experiences terrorist attacks in some of its border areas.

In recent years, a new centre of insecurity has emerged in the extreme southwest of Niger, a region known as the "three borders" (Niger-Mali-Burkina Faso) where terrorist groups often carry out deadly attacks targeting both military and civilian population.

Attacks have been staged by armed groups who have controlled the southern region of Libya since the overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, as well as terrorist groups based in northern Mali.

Nigerien soldiers stand guard as supporters of Niger's National Council of Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) in Niamey on 30 August 2023. © AFP

EU sides with Ecowas

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed sanctions on coup leaders in Niger, but reserved judgment on whether they would support military action by a regional force to restore the ousted government.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said sanctions would mirror those applied by West African regional body Ecowas and would include humanitarian exemptions.

“We expressed our full support for the efforts of Ecowas to put maximum pressure on the Nigerien junta", Borrell told journalists.

"We favour the diplomatic solution, no one wants a military intervention. We don't want sanctions to become an additional punishment for the world's second-poorest country."

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has imposed sanctions on Niger after troops ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup on 26 July and the bloc threatened military intervention as a last resort if talks fail to restore civilian rule.

In a statement on Thursday, the bloc insisted it wanted Bazoum back in power right away.

"The military authorities in Niger must restore constitutional order immediately by liberating and reinstating President Mohamed Bazoum," it said.

Still on Thursday, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu floated the idea of a transition back to democracy in Niger similar to the nine-month period his country underwent in the late 1990s.

Niger's new military leaders said they want a maximum three-year transition period to restore constitutional order and have ordered police to expel France's envoy as tensions build with a key partner in Niger's anti-jihadist fight.   

 (with newswires)