Niger

NIAMEY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - France's Armed Forces Minister arrived in Niger on Sunday as part of a two-day visit to allies in the Sahel region, where French-led military operations against Islamist militants are under threat from Mali's talks with Russian defence contractors.

Diplomatic and security sources have told Reuters that Mali's year-old military junta is close to recruiting the Russian Wagner Group, and France has launched a diplomatic drive to thwart it, saying such an arrangement is "incompatible" with a continued French presence. 

NIAMEY, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Boko Haram militants attacked a military post in southern Niger overnight, killing 16 soldiers and wounding nine more, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

About 50 of the Islamist militants were killed in the resulting combat in the West African country's Diffa region and significant quantities of weapons were recovered, the ministry said in a statement.

The Boko Haram insurgency broke out in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, but violence frequently spills over into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the Lake Chad Basin.

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger’s newly elected President Mohamed Bazoum has appointed former minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou as prime minister to lead his government, according to a decree read on national television late on Saturday.

Mahamadou until recently was the chief of staff of Bazoum’s predecessor President Mahamadou Issoufou.

Mahamadou, 69, first held a ministerial position 1991 as mines and energy minister. He was Niger’s finance minister between 2011 and 2012, and was appointed chief of staff in 2015.

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger began voting on Sunday in the second round of a presidential election that is expected to usher in the first democratic transition of power since the West African nation gained independence from France in 1960.

Ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum is seen by many as the favourite after leading in the first round on Dec. 27 with 39.3% of the vote. He is up against former President Mahamane Ousmane, who scored 17%.

03 Jan 2021; AA: Turkey condemned a deadly terror attack in Niger that killed at least 56 people, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

"We are deeply saddened by the news that many people lost their lives and were injured in a terrorist attack perpetrated against the Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye villages near the Mali border on 2 January 2021," it said in a statement about the attack that left at least 20 others wounded.

NIAMEY, Jan 2 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — The presidential candidate of Niger’s ruling party looked set for a first-round win as his vote tally expanded on Friday.

Provisional results showed Mohamed Bazoum as having garnered 1.4 million votes, only trailed by former president Mahamane Ousmane with 675,000.

The electoral commission is expected to announce the final results Saturday in Niamey.

Former prime ministers Seini Oumarou and Albade Abouba were on course for 345,000 and 260,000 votes respectively.

Niamey (Niger), Dec 28 (AP-PTI) Niger voted Sunday in presidential and legislative elections that could see the West African countrys first democratic transition of power since independence amid a growing threat from jihadists in the region.

A good turnout was seen in the capital throughout the day, said observers .

NIAMEY, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An OIC fund raising campaign for The Gambia to support its legal battle seeking redressal of Rohingya genocide in International Court of Justice (ICJ) drew so far US$1.2 million while the West African nation said it urgently needed $5million to pay the lawyers.

Officials at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the grouping of 57 countries having large Muslim populations, General Secretariat said Bangladesh appeared to be the largest contributor to the fund donating half a million dollar of the US$ $1.2 million.

NIAMEY, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Soldiers in Niger executed dozens of civilians during the counterinsurgency campaign against extremists in the country’s troubled Tillaberi region earlier this year, a probe into the deaths reported.

The West African nation has suffered years of conflict with militants operating in the vast and inhospitable Sahel desert, with thousands of soldiers and civilians killed to date.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Unidentified gunmen killed six French aid workers and two Nigerien guides who were visiting a wildlife park east of Niger’s capital early Sunday, authorities from both countries said.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences and support for the victims’ families in a statement.

Macron had a phone call with Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou on Sunday evening and both heads of state stressed that “all means are and will be used to clarify the circumstances of the deadly attack,” the statement said.