Latest Niger News
ECOWAS pledges to 'keep door open' after 3 coup-hit West African nations exit regional bloc
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The junta-led West African nations of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have formally withdrawn from the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, the body said Wednesday. The previously announced withdrawal, which marks the culmination of a yearlong process during which the...
West Africa's junta-led nations announce deployment of a joint force as extremist violence spikes
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The junta-led West African countries of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have created a joint force that will soon be deployed in the restive Sahel region against rising extremist violence, Niger’s defense minister said Wednesday, The force of 5,000 personnel...
Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been released
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Four Moroccan truck drivers who were kidnapped in West Africa over the weekend were released in Niger. The drivers were the latest victims of insecurity in the Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara where militant groups such as the Islamic...
Death toll in Nigeria gas tanker explosion rises to 98
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from a gasoline tanker explosion in north-central Nigeria has risen to 98, the country’s emergency response agency said Monday. The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted...
Nigerian gasoline tanker explosion death toll rises to 86, with 55 others injured
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from a gasoline tanker explosion in north-central Nigeria has risen to 86, the country’s emergency response agency said on Sunday. The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals...
Nigerian gasoline tanker explosion kills at least 70 people, authorities say
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 70 people have died in north-central Nigeria after a gasoline tanker exploded, the country’s emergency response agency said. The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted to...
An Austrian woman has been kidnapped in Niger's Agadez city, authorities say
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — An Austrian woman has been kidnapped by gunmen in Niger's Agadez city, local residents and the Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, the first time a European citizen is known to have been kidnapped in the conflict-hit West African nation since a military junta took power...
Ivory Coast asks French troops to leave, the latest African country to do so
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decadeslong military presence, the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former colonial power. Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the pullout...
Senegal says it's closing 'all foreign military bases,' a move aimed at French troops in the country
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal's prime minister said on Friday that the government is closing “all foreign military bases,” an announcement essentially aimed at France, the West African nation's former colonial power. Although Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko did not specifically...
West Africa regional bloc approves exit timeline for 3 coup-hit member states
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS approved Sunday an exit timeline for three coup-hit nations after a nearly yearlong process of mediation to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the grouping. In a first in the 15-nation bloc’s nearly 50 years of...
