Yesterday, the French army denied that it had asked Algeria to use its airspace to carry out a military operation in Niger, after the official Algerian radio said, the night before last, that the authorities had rejected a French request in this regard.
The radio, which usually conveys the official point of view, added that Algeria opposes any foreign military intervention to restore order in Niger after the July 26 coup, and that it prefers to pursue diplomatic means.
A source in the French army said: “The joint French defense authority denies submitting a request to fly over Algerian territory.”
France has about 1,500 soldiers stationed in Niger before the coup. It is not yet clear what military operation Algeria was referring to, but France did not say that it would intervene militarily to overthrow the military coup.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his country’s fears of any military reaction at the beginning of this month, saying: “The military intervention in Niger may ignite the entire Sahel region and that Algeria will not use force with its neighbors.”
And the French military presence in West Africa has become increasingly fragile amid a wave of coups in the Sahel region since 2020.
French forces were expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso, and anti-French sentiment has been on the rise in the streets of Niamey since the July 26 coup. This coincided with the increase of Russian influence in the region.
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2023-08-22 22:00:41
