A group of West African nations has threatened military intervention in Niger if ousted President Mohamed Bazoum is not returned to power by Aug. 6, ramping up pressure on the coterie of generals who deposed the elected leader and seized power there last week.
The leaders of 11 members of ECOWAS -- the Economic Community of West African States -- issued a communique Sunday condemning Bazoum's detention. They warned that the bloc would take "all measures necessary to restore constitutional order" in Niger, including the use of force, and ordered the defense chiefs of member nations to "meet immediately."
The deadline came as Niger's Western allies -- including Britain, France, Germany and the European Union -- all announced they were pulling aid to Niamey, Niger's capital. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Bazoum in March and had staked high hopes on the fledgling democracy, suggested Saturday that Washington might do the same if the president is not returned to office.
Western nations had worked closely with Bazoum and his predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou, to battle a growing insurgency in the Sahel region, where Islamist extremists have attacked security forces, overrun villages and captured swaths of territory in recent years. The United States, France and Germany all have troops deployed to Niger.
But soon after those who had plotted the coup took power Wednesday, barricading Bazoum in the presidential palace in Niamey, the chief commander of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, declared himself the new head of state. He said Friday that the "harsh reality of insecurity in Niger" had led soldiers to overthrow the president and accused the elected government of not cooperating enough with neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso to combat insurgents.
In the capital over the weekend, thousands of pro-coup demonstrators marched through the streets, carrying signs calling on French forces to leave the country and throwing stones at the French Embassy. Niger gained independence from France in 1960.
But even as tensions flared between France and its former colony, the Biden administration said it was holding out hope that Bazoum will be restored to power.
The unrest so far has stayed quite localized, a senior State Department official said Monday, with the presidential guard surrounding Bazoum and his family in their official residence, but with life proceeding as normal elsewhere in Niamey and the rest of the country. The U.S. Embassy remains open, and no orders have been given to pull staff or diplomats from Niger.
According to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to frankly discuss the unfolding situation, the forces who overthrew Bazoum do not seem to have universal support within the Nigerien military.
"It doesn't seem that Tchiani ... has been able to fully build consensus among the military for his actions," the official said, adding that the "forceful ECOWAS response" was designed to exploit the confusion and lack of planning on the part of the coup leaders.
Still, there is fear that military intervention or a frontal assault on the presidential guard could lead them to kill Bazoum and his family.
"We believe the situation is really fluid," the official said.
ECOWAS also announced a range of new sanctions placed against Niger -- and member states closed their land and air borders and ordered all commercial transactions to be suspended.
In a statement Sunday, Blinken welcomed the measures but also urged all parties to find a peaceful resolution. "The legitimate, democratically-elected government must be reinstated immediately," he tweeted.