Tensions between Paris and Niamey gave rise to a new pass of arms this weekend. While continuing to refuse a rapid withdrawal of its troops from Niger, France denied the accusations made on Saturday September 9 by the junta, which accuses it of “deploying its forces in several countries of the ECOWAS [Economic Community of West Africa] as part of preparations for an aggression against Niger, which it is planning in collaboration with this community organization”.

After the July 26 coup, ECOWAS threatened military intervention as a last resort in the event of failure of negotiations, in order to restore constitutional order, release the overthrown president Mohamed Bazoum and restore its functions. A decision supported by France, which has around 1,500 soldiers in Niger.

According to the press release from the Nigerien soldiers read on television on Saturday, since September 1, “two military transport aircraft type A400M and a Dornier 328 have been deployed as reinforcements in Côte d’Ivoire”, and “two multirole helicopters type Super Puma” and “about 40 armored vehicles” were fired “in Kandi and Malanville, Benin”. “On September 7, 2023, a French military ship docked in Cotonou [in Benin] with military personnel and resources on board,” the statement added, while assuring that “hundreds of rotations of military cargo aircraft” had enabled the landing of large quantities of war material and equipment in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin.

Questioned by AFP, a French military source denied these accusations on Sunday. “None of this is in preparation or intention. There is no intervention, no attack planned against Niger”, she indicated, while the military partnership with the Nigerien forces has been suspended since July 26 and the French troops are immobilized on the different bases that they occupy in the country, in Niamey, Ouallam and Ayorou.

Firm posture

According to this source, also joined by Le Monde, the boat off the coast of Cotonou mentioned by the junta is the amphibious helicopter carrier Mistral, which set sail from Toulon “almost a month ago”. The Mistral is engaged in Operation “Corymbe”, which takes place every year in the Gulf of Guinea to ensure a maritime security mission (illegal fishing, drug trafficking, etc.) in cooperation with neighboring countries.

According to this French official, the French army does not have its own Dornier 328 aircraft either. Similarly, “there are no French armored vehicles in northern Benin […] but the French army has no visibility on possible movements of the Beninese army”. “Airplane rotations can take place in countries where we still have troops, as there are regularly, but certainly not in the proportions” indicated by the junta, he finally specifies.

Emmanuel Macron also spoke about these accusations on Sunday during a press conference after a G20 summit in India. “We do not recognize any legitimacy in the statements of the putschists,” he said, recalling the posture of French firmness vis-à-vis the junta. While discussions officially began at a military level in early September on the terms of a possible withdrawal of French troops from Niger – as demanded by the putschists – the Head of State added a new condition to this departure : that it be requested by Mohamed Bazoum, currently sequestered by the Nigerien military in power.

“If we redeploy anything, I will only do it at the request of President Bazoum and in coordination with him, not with officials who today are taking a president hostage,” Macron said. On the rest, I have no intention as long as the situation is this. It kind of freezes everything, since the only person we have to legitimately talk to is President Bazoum. »

For more than a week, day and night, thousands of people have gathered in Niamey, at the Escadrille roundabout, on a road leading to the main military base housing French soldiers, to demand their departure.