Niger’s state broadcaster (ORTN) has reported that fellow West African states, Mali and Burkina Faso have sent material support to Niamey amid a threat by regional bloc, ECOWAS, to enter the country to remove the junta.
Footage broadcast on the station late Friday, August 18, 2023; showed a number of fighter jets landing a facility in Niamey.
“Mali and Burkina Faso translate into concrete actions their commitments contained in their joint statement,” ORTN captioned the video posted on Facebook.
It added: “Indeed this two brotherly countries deployed fighter jets to counter any form of aggression against Niger.”
ECOWAS army chiefs met in Accra (August 17 – 18) and resolved that military action will be activated via the ECOWAS standby force if diplomatic efforts slated for August 19 fails to materialize.
The July 26, 2023 coup that deposed president Mohamed Bazoum is the fifth in West Africa over the last three years.
Mali and Burkina Faso, who are supporting the Nigerien junta, have had two coups each in the last few years. Guinea is the other country that experienced a coup with the overthrow of Alpha Conde in 2021.
According to GhanaWeb, it has also emerged that in the ORTN broadcast from Niamey airport, a Hürkus-C light ground attack aircraft of the #Niger Air Force from Turkish manufacturer TAI is sighted.
It is painted fully grey, armed and equipped with an EO/IR imaging system for reconnaissance, a security expert observed on Twitter, now X.