Niger coup general Tiani appears on TV as transitional council president

[July 28, 2023]  (Reuters) - The head of Niger's presidential guard, General Abdourahamane Tiani, appeared on Friday on state television as the president of the transitional council that seized power in a coup on Wednesday. 

The guard instigated the coup on Wednesday and detained President Mohamed Bazoum in the presidential palace. A group of soldiers who later appeared on state television said they had stripped Bazoum of power.

Colonel Amadou Abdramane, who announced the coup, said the military had acted in response to deteriorating security and bad governance.

Abdourahamane Tiani reiterated that soldiers seized power due to the worsening security. He also criticized the non-cooperation with military governments in Burkina Faso and Mali in the fight against insurgencies in the region.

Insecurity has remained a problem since Bazoum was elected in 2021 as jihadists that took root in Mali in 2012 gained ground, killing thousands and displacing over 6 million across the Sahel.

Niger is a key ally of Western countries against Islamist insurgencies in West Africa and a number of foreign troops are based there, including French and American.

(Reporting by Bate Felix and Anait Miridzhanian; editing by John Stonestreet and Angus MacSwan)

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