Thousands Rally in Support of Niger’s Military Leader After Thwarted Army Mutiny

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Niamey on Wednesday in a show of support for Niger’s military leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, following a failed army mutiny over the weekend.

The rally at Place de la Concertation came just days after loyalist forces, aided by Russian mercenaries, suppressed the uprising, though not before intense fighting rocked several key sites across the capital. General Tiani, who seized power in the 2023 coup, has not yet made a public appearance or issued a statement since the attempted mutiny.

Wednesday’s demonstration brought together several thousand Nigeriens, including government ministers and junta supporters. Similar rallies were also planned in other major cities across the country, according to official media.

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Russian flags were seen among the crowd, alongside chants of “down with the imperialists.” Moscow’s Africa Corps paramilitaries have become Niger’s key partners in the fight against the region’s persistent jihadist insurgency since the coup.

Business Minister Abdoulaye Seydou addressed the rally, declaring: “We will show the whole world that the Nigerien people stand united” and that “treason will not break our determination.” General Tiani’s chief of staff, General Amadou Ibro, claimed the mutiny’s “sponsors are based abroad,” a frequent assertion by the junta, which has justified its takeover by citing the need to restore national sovereignty.

State television has previously broadcast accusations that France, Niger’s former colonial power, was behind the uprising. Like its junta-led neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger has severed ties with Paris since the coup, turning instead to Russia for support in combating the region’s escalating jihadist violence.

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