Niger blames France for inciting soldiers' mutiny

NIAMEY, Sept 4 (Reuters) - ‌Niger has ​blamed ​France for inciting an attack on a key military airbase by mutinous soldiers ‌last week, according to a government statement ⁠read on TV on Friday.

• Mutinous soldiers in the ‌West African country attacked ‌the airport and the presidency in the capital, Niamey, on August 29, the latest threat ​to the rule of Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power in a 2023 coup.

• Explosions ⁠and gunfire also rang out at a military airbase, but Niger's ​army, backed by Russian paramilitary forces, regained control over it the next day.

• The ​Council of Ministers on ‌Friday concluded that the attack had been incited by a vast network of ⁠accomplices led by France, according to the statement.

• "A substantial body of evidence has been compiled regarding ⁠this attack, and Niger reserves the right to bring the ​matter before international courts," the government said in the statement.

• The attack highlighted tensions within Niger's armed forces, ‌which have suffered repeated battlefield losses while fighting a jihadist insurgency.

• Tiani blamed ‌France and other West African countries for ⁠unrest in the capital ‌earlier this year, ​without providing evidence.

(Reporting by Niger newsroom; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Tom ‌Hogue)

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