Burkina Faso and Mali has threw their support behind the newly installed junta in Niger and warned against any military intervention in the country’s affairs.
They said any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.
This comes after leaders of ECOWAS threatened to use “force” to reinstate Bazoum and imposed sanctions on Niger’s government.
Recall that on Wednesday, officers from General Omar Tchiani’s elite unit declared Niger’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum out of power.
Tchiani then appointed himself as the new ruler on Friday. Shortly afterwards, the coup plotters suspended the West African country’s constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions.
But on Sunday, the West African community of states ECOWAS condemned the coup and imposed sanctions on Niger’s government, including a halt in all financial transactions and a national assets freeze, and said it could authorise force to reinstate Bazoum, who is still locked in his palace.
Reacting, In a separate statement read on both countries’ national broadcasters, Guinea expressed its “disagreement with the sanctions recommended by ECOWAS, including military intervention,” urging the bloc “reconsider its position.”
The governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea are also the result of recent military coups.
