West Africa Watch - Coups, juntas, terrorism and foreign influence for everyone!

[Breadbassket]

West Africa is a part of the world with a population of over 400 million and growing and is also relatively unstable as a whole as of this time. There have been six coups in the region in the last three years with the most recent at the time of making this being in Niger in late July 2023.



While I originally intended to make this thread just for the latest power grab, the whole area seems rife with issues ranging from terrorists, questionable UN involvement, corruption, sectarian violence, ethnic conflict and outside influence. At this moment there is a chance there may be some kind of armed intervention in Niger in order to get rid of the current government which was formed when the presidential guard of the country detained the president and their leader proclaimed himself the head of a new military junta. Presidential guard forces later closed the country's borders, suspended state institutions, and declared a curfew.

Some recent article headlines on the matter in Niger:

 

[The Backwards Man]

They're super duper serious this time, if Nigger doesn't put the corpse of their former president back in his little chair within 7 10 15 days it's OVER for them.

 

[TheDarknessGrows]

China's problem. They should send in the military.

 

[ShapelyMutton]

So this is just an expansion of the chimpout thread?

 

[AgendaPoster]

I'm sure they're great people, but the solution is same as ever, shark infested moats and Med, electrified walls, Predator drones and Hellfire missiles - just in case they wanna share their nicety with us

 

[mindlessobserver]

They're super duper serious this time, if Nigger doesn't put the corpse of their former president back in his little chair within 7 10 15 days it's OVER for them.

They actually mean it. They've even brought Chad into this, and you know shits serious when Chad gets involved. Its basically already over at that point.

Jokes aside, ECOWAS HAS intervened militarily before on numerous occasions when a coup breaks out. The organization is as much an insurance policy for the governments that make it up as it is for regional peace and stability. If one of their members gets couped, they tend to step in pretty quickly to restore the former status quo. Just a few examples.

Ivory Coast AND Liberia in 2003

Guinea Bissau in 2012

Mali in 2013

The Gambia in 2017

I've never seen ECOWAS not deliver on an ultimatum tbh. It also doesn't hurt that the absolute retards in Niger attacked the French Embassy today

All while waving Russian flags no less. Not a good plan.

If I was the coup leaders I would be busy sending all the countries wealth to Qatar and preparing for the inevitable "Gracious exile", because the dildo is being lubed up and they are about to get taken to pound town.

 

[Maude Snew]

Heh look at those niggers who can't even spell nigger. Or maybe someone stole the second g.

 

[oldTireWater]

West africa has seemed uncharacteristically stable the last 10-20 years. It's time for General Good Times to come out of retirement and start chopping hands. The going-to-war montage will be stripping naked, throwing on some charms, being made bullet-proof by a shaman, and getting high as fuck off brown-brown.

 

[Slur Generator]

Great, exactly what we need, more "refugees" fleeing to Europe.

 

[Seafarer]

So Africa is prepping for Total Niger Death?

 

[im5!XxhO]

Isn't Niger a super important Uranium source for the baguettes? I am pretty sure they will just do another safari.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

They actually mean it. They've even brought Chad into this, and you know shits serious when Chad gets involved. Its basically already over at that point.

Oh fuck this actually is serious then. Chad is gonna deploy the Toyota Armored Corps on Niger.

 

[curiumotter]

Those evil white people are at it again!

 

[Magnus Opum]

Isn't Niger a super important Uranium source for the baguettes? I am pretty sure they will just do another safari.

It is not. France has a 10 year stock of stored uranium, and Niger is only a secondary source now.

 

[Breadbassket]

Not really news but Google can't tell the difference between Nigeria and Niger.

 

[George Floyd Sneed]

I’m sure (((NGOs))) are salivating at the prospect of rapefugees fleeing, hoping to steer them towards Europe.

 

[mindlessobserver]

I’m sure (((NGOs))) are salivating at the prospect of rapefugees fleeing, hoping to steer them towards Europe.

This assumes the war will be long, which is highly unlikely if Chad and Nigeria go in backed by the USA and France. Niger is a land locked country and its military would be woefully incapable of stopping either countries forces if they are backed by western Air Power. The two of them together is essentially fait accompli from the get go unless the Coup actually does have significant popular support that it can mobilize its various tribes and wat not to repel the assault.

There is alot more going on here beneath the surface then just a simple coup lets not forget. Niger was a lynch pin of Western great power rivalry with Russian and Chinese interests in the area, done under the guise of fighting islamist extremists. The west has strong incentive here to curtail Chinese colonial ambitions, which make no mistake will be aggrandized if the coup stands due to the current Niger leaderships avowed break with western trading and security arrangements. Its entirely possible China or Russia (or both) instigated this coup, though there is not enough information to say it for certain. The fact remains however that this has taken a enormous shit in a lot of peoples morning cereal.

For ECOWAS the issue is more stark, and it was there in the Nigerian Presidents speech. "This action is a threat to all of us". The "Us" he is referring too is not their countries or democracy, but to them personally. If they let the coup stand its entirely possible they will be next. There has been too many coup's going on in the Sahel recently, most prominently the successful one in Mali in 2021 and the unsuccessful one in Guinea-Bissau in 2022. The leadership of these countries are almost certainly feeling the personal danger at this point and are prepared to lash out.

 

[S.C.U.D.]

I like how the correct pronunciation of "Niger" sounds more racist than the way most people say it.

 

[Breadbassket]

Nigerien News:

Niger coup: Ousted President Mohamed Bazoum meets Chad's leader​

Spoiler: Article

Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum (R) appeared in good health as he met Chad's Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno (L)

Niger's ousted president has been seen for the first time since the military detained him after staging a coup last week.

Mohamed Bazoum met Chad's leader Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in Niger's capital, Niamey.

Mr Déby is spearheading mediation efforts to end the crisis after West African leaders gave the junta a seven-day deadline to give up power or risk military action.

He also met the head of the junta.

Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, the head of the presidential guards unit, declared himself Niger's new ruler on Friday.

Mr Déby said his mediation effort was aimed at finding a "peaceful solution to the crisis which is shaking" Niger, which borders Chad.

He did not give further details, but his office released a photo of him sitting next to a smiling Mr Bazoum.

Mr Déby was himself put in power by the army after his father was killed fighting rebel forces in 2021.

He was sent to Niger by leaders of the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, who said on Sunday that the junta had a week to return power to the elected president.

The regional bloc would "take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order" if its demands were not met.

"Such measures may include the use of force," and military chiefs were to meet "immediately" to plan for an intervention, a statement added.

The junta has not commented on the demands, but it has vowed to defend Niger from any "aggression" by regional or Western powers. It has accused former colonial power France of planning military intervention.

France and the US both have military bases in Niger.

The junta also announced that it is suspending the export of uranium and gold to France with immediate effect. Niger is the world's seventh largest producer of Uranium.

The coup has prompted concern that Niger, a key Western ally in the fight against jihadist groups in West Africa, could pivot towards Russia.

Neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali have both moved away from France, and towards Russia, after staging their own coups in recent years.

On Sunday, protesters outside the French embassy in Niamey chanted "Long live Russia", "Long live Putin" and "Down with France", AFP news agency reports.

They also set fire to the walls of the embassy compound.

France would not tolerate any attack on its interests in Niger, and would respond in an "immediate and intractable manner", President Emmanuel Macron's office said in a statement.

Article Link

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Niger junta says France planning strikes to free Bazoum​

Spoiler: Article

Pro-junta demonstrators gathered outside the French embassy, try to set it on fire before being dispersed by Nigerien security forces in Niamey, the capital city of Niger July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Souleymane Ag Anara

NIAMEY, July 31 (Reuters) - The Niger military junta that seized power last week and ousted democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum said on Monday the toppled government had authorised France to carry out strikes at the presidency to try to free Bazoum.

The military junta, which has confined Bazoum to the presidential palace since Wednesday, has previously warned against foreign attempts to extract him, saying it would result in bloodshed and chaos.

The military's comments were made by army Colonel Amadou Abdramane, one of the coup plotters, on state television. He said that the authorisation was signed by Niger Foreign Affairs Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, acting as prime minister.

Massoudou could not be reached for comment. France has condemned the coup and urged that Bazoum be reinstated but has not announced any intention to intervene militarily. Paris did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The coup in Niger followed military takeovers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso over the last two years, all of which have come amid a wave of anti-French sentiment.

France has had troops in the region for a decade helping to fight an Islamist insurgency, but some locals say they want the former colonial ruler to stop intervening in their affairs.

Niger has been a key ally in Western campaigns against insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel, and there are concerns the coup could open the door to greater Russian influence in the region, and also allow the insurgency to spread.

Supporters of the junta burned French flags and attacked the French embassy in Niger's capital Niamey on Sunday, drawing tear gas from police. The junta accused France in another statement of shooting at protesters, injuring six.

French president Emmanuel Macron said any attacks on French interests in Niger would be met with a "swift and uncompromising response."

West African regional bloc ECOWAS has imposed sanctions and said it could authorize the use of force if Niger's coup leaders fail to reinstate ousted president Bazoum within a week.

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby flew to Niger over the weekend to help mediate the crisis, and posted pictures on social media showing him meeting with Bazoum and separately with coup leader Abdourahamane Tiani, whom the junta has declared head of state.
Deby said they had discussions to explore ways "to find a peaceful solution."

Deby seized power in 2021 after the death of his father Idriss Deby, the long-ruling former president, but he has remained a close ally of France.

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[Badungus Kabungus]

I'm sure it will go just as well as the last time the West has a peacekeeping operation in the region. Y'all remember how Operation Barkhane ended? Kek

Spoiler

TOTAL NATO HUMILIATION