Tensions between Niger and France have continued to escalate following the recent attack on Diori Hamani International Airport and Air Base in Niamey, an incident Niger authorities say is part of a broader destabilization campaign allegedly linked to France. Relations between the two countries have been at an alltime low following the removal of French military forces from Niger and the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States in 2023.
The Nigerien authorities have consistently maintained that France bears responsibility for the airport attack, which occurred several weeks ago and heightened already strained diplomatic and security relations between the two countries.
This week saw growing public mobilization, where Ibro Amadou Bacharou, a general and member of Niger’s ruling National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), called on Nigeriens to prepare for a possible confrontation with Paris.
“This mobilization is convened so that we prepare to make war with France,” he said.
“We should not beat around the bush: We are going to enter into war with France.”
He further accused France of being the root cause of Niger’s insecurity.
“Everything that has brought us to this state of insecurity is caused by France,” he said, claiming that France “wants to bring us back at any cost to where it built its prosperity.”
President Tchiani accuses France of destabilization
In a separate interview, Niger’s interim president and head of the CNSP, Abdourahamane Tchiani, reinforced the government’s position, portraying the airport attack as part of what he described as a long-standing neo-colonial strategy against Niger and the wider Sahel.
“We are not naïve,” Tchiani said.
“The attack on Diori Hamani International Airport and Air Base 101 is not outside a broader process carried out by neo-colonial forces, particularly French forces through all their branches: special forces, intelligence services, and forces in general, under the direction of Emmanuel Macron against our country.”
Tchiani said relations between Niger and France had deteriorated into open hostility since the military takeover, arguing that Paris was angered by Niamey’s pursuit of sovereignty and reform.
“Our arrival created an open situation of hostility between Macron and us,” he said, adding that some European countries had been drawn into what he described as a “visceral hatred” toward Niger.
The interim president further alleged that preparations for destabilization had been underway since April 2025, claiming that French intelligence services and special forces had supplied mercenaries with weapons, finances, and military equipment.
According to Tchiani also, Niger was not the only target.
“It was not only Niger; Mali was also in the crosshairs, and Burkina Faso was also in the crosshairs,” he said, referring to neighboring Sahel states also governed by military-led administrations and aligned in opposition to French influence.
Safeguarding sovereignty
Niger, together with its partners in the Alliance of Sahel States, has stated that it will defend its sovereignty and pursue self-reliance based on the mobilization and control of its own national resources, despite persistent security threats posed by insurgent groups across the Sahel.
source: People’s Dispatch