Amid rumours of a potential interest in the Wagner mercenary group, which has a presence in the nation, General Salifou Mody, one of the Niger soldiers who took control in a military coup last week, visited Mali on Wednesday, according to the Mali presidency.
According to images and a statement shared on Facebook by the Mali presidency, Assimi Gota, the interim president of Mali, hosted Mody and a sizable Nigerien military group on Wednesday.
According to the Mali presidency, Mody described the gathering as “part of a complex regional context” and thanked the country’s leaders “for their support and accompaniment since the seizure of power by the CNSP,” a reference to the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, where Mody serves as vice president.
To put down an Islamist insurgency building around the intersection of the frontiers of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, hundreds of Wagner contractors are stationed in Mali at the country’s military junta’s invitation.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, praised the coup last week in the landlocked West African nation, saying his private military firm could potentially assist in scenarios similar to the one taking place in Niger.
Western leaders, particularly the US and France, who are both major players in Niger’s campaign against local Islamist insurgencies, were disturbed by the abrupt removal of President Bazoum of Niger last week.
The Russian mercenary outfit may now look for fresh chances in Niger, US officials have warned. According to State Department spokesman Matt Miller, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wagner try to exploit this situation to their own advantage as they’ve attempted to exploit other situations in Africa to their own advantage.”
According to Miller, “any attempt by the military leaders in Niger to bring the Wagner forces into Niger would be a sign, yet another sign that they do not have the best interests of the Nigerien people at heart.”
Wagner’s involvement in and complicity with atrocities against civilian populations in Sudan, Mali, and the Central African Republic, where they have been used to support local defence forces against rebellions and insurgencies and suppress opposition, have been documented by numerous CNN investigations as well as other ones by human rights organisations.
Countries in the Sahel area, where the danger of Islamist extremism has destabilised local administrations and caused volatility in recent years, have reacted to the coup in different ways.
The governments of Mali and Burkina Faso said on Monday that they would regard any armed involvement as “an act of war” against them and prepared their armed forces for battle.
General Mody informed his host, according to a statement from the Mali presidency, that he was there to look into “ways and means to strengthen our security cooperation, at a time when some countries are planning to intervene militarily in our country.”
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened to use force on Sunday if the deposed president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was not restored within a week.
For the military officials implicated in the coup attempt, their families, and any civilians who choose to take part in any institutions or governments established by the officials, ECOWAS also imposed a travel restriction and asset freeze.
Mali and Burkina Faso declared their support for the Nigerien government and declared they would oppose any ECOWAS sanctions taken against the country, calling them “illegal, illegitimate, and inhuman.” On Monday, Guinea also reaffirmed its support for Niger.