Thousands rally to back Niger junta chief after thwarted mutiny

Thousands demonstrated in Niger's capital on Wednesday in support of the west African country's junta chief, General Abdourahamane Tiani, following a thwarted army mutiny at the weekend, Nigerien journalists reported.

The rally in Niamey comes days after loyal supporters of the military government put down the attempted uprising with the help of Russian mercenaries, but not before the capital was rocked by intense fighting across several highly sensitive sites.

Tiani, who took power in a 2023 coup, has yet to issue a statement or appear in public since the attempted uprising.

Wednesday's demonstration brought together several thousand Nigeriens, including junta followers and ministers, to Place de la Concertation, where hundreds had already rallied on Saturday as the clashes raged for the same purpose.

Several other rallies were planned across several of the west African country's big cities, according to official media.

Along with cries of "down with the imperialists", Russian flags were visible in the crowd.

Moscow's paramilitaries from the Africa Corps have become Niger's main partners in the fight against the Sahel region's widespread and deadly jihadist threat in the wake of the coup.

"We will show the whole world that the Nigerien people stand united" and that "treason will not break our determination", business minister Abdoulaye Seydou told the rally.

General Tiani's personal chief of staff, General Amadou Ibro, claimed the mutiny's "sponsors are based abroad" -- a frequent talking point of the junta, which has justified the coup by claiming a need to restore Niger's sovereignty.

State television had previously broadcast accusations that France, Niger's former colonial power, was behind the uprising.

Like its fellow junta-run Sahel neighbours in Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger has turned its back on Paris since the coup.

All three have sought closer ties with Russia in tackling the region's deadly jihadist conflict, which has continued to rage unabated.