Niger’s junta OKs support of troops from two neighbors, intensifying standoff with West African bloc

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s president have given approval for military support from its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso against any attack just as the regional bloc insisted Friday on the use of force to help reverse the coup. The approval would allow the two countries to send their troops to Niger, a senior official of the junta said Thursday. The West African regional bloc of ECOWAS, meanwhile, says that its proposition to use force to reinstate the deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum is “still on the table,” rejecting the junta’s three-year transition plan.