Niger

Niger’s military regime on Wednesday congratulated the Malian junta on the “liberation of Kidal" the previous day, a strategic town that had been under the control of predominantly Tuareg separatists. … Neighbouring Burkina Faso also welcomed the news, calling it a "pivotal" moment in the fight against armed groups in the Sahel region.

The U.S. Senate decisively rejected a bill on Thursday, October 26, 2023, that would have forced President Joe Biden to withdraw American troops from Niger, a West African country where the military seized power in July.

European Union countries on Monday adopted a framework to impose sanctions on members of a junta that seized power in Niger in July. … With this, the EU aims to mirror and strengthen any measures taken by the West African regional body ECOWAS.

Niger's military rulers said they had foiled an attempt by Mohamed Bazoum, the former president they ousted in a coup in July, to escape their custody on Thursday.

French soldiers have started to withdraw from their bases in Niger, with the first convoy of troops escorted out of the country by Niger’s military as it travelled in the “direction of Chad”, authorities in the capital Niamey said. … The United States on Tuesday also formally declared that Niger’s democratically-elected president was removed in a military coup, which results in officially suspending assistance to Niger.

Niger's junta has demanded that the top United Nations official there leave the country within 72 hours over accusations that Niger was excluded from the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York last month.

French troops will begin withdrawing from Niger "this week", Paris said Thursday, after a falling-out with the military junta in power since a July coup.

At least 29 Nigerien soldiers have been killed by jihadis near the country's border with Mali, Niger's junta said, as they struggle to end a spate of attacks.

[…] The accumulated challenges highlight the need to rethink EU strategy in the Sahel region once more. During its September 2023 plenary meeting, the European Parliament called for a thorough revision of this strategy, while the situation in Niger and the broader Sahel remains volatile. This briefing analyses the situation in Niger up to 25 September 2023.

President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced that France would withdraw its ambassador from Niger, followed by the French military contingent in the coming months, in a move welcomed by Niger's military leaders as a "step towards sovereignty".