Niger: Soldiers Seize Airwaves, Claim to Stage Coup on National TV

"A group of soldiers describing themselves as the “National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland” appeared on national television in Niger late Thursday night announcing they had overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum and “suspended” the operations of all government institutions.....reports from Niger’s main cities suggested many civilians going to work or otherwise behaving normally, with no indication of whether Bazoum’s government or the military was in charge. Bazoum has not appeared publicly since Thursday, but posted a message on Twitter in the early morning hours of Thursday vowing to protect “democracy and freedom.”.....Niger is a volatile Sahel country facing multiple jihadist insurgencies, including attacks by the Islamic State, its subsidiary Boko Haram, and some al-Qaeda elements. Bazoum’s government has been generally friendly to America.......It is currently surrounded by, in addition to jihadists, nations that have turned on the West and sought aid from Russia and the Wagner Private Military Group (PMC), most prominently Burkina Faso....Reports out of Niger suggested that Adramane had not organized the coup, but General Abdourhmane Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard." Breitbart