When mutinous soldiers seized a strategic military base in Niger's capital last Saturday, the country's ruling junta turned to a foreign partner it has increasingly relied on since coming to power: Russia. Following a night of intense fighting in Niamey, Russia's Africa Corps helped Nigerien loyalist forces to regain control of Air Base 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport. Africa Corps, unlike its predecessor the Wagner Group, is directly under the control of the defence ministry in Moscow.
It provides combat support and military training and is thought to have some 200 to 300 men in Niger. Russia's ambassador to Niger, Viktor Voropaev, publicly acknowledged the weekend intervention, saying his country's forces had helped "repress a mutiny". "This is seen as a symbolic victory," according to Beverly Ochieng, senior analyst at Control Risks.
"[One] that will continue to put them at the centre of not just the counter-insurgency campaign, but even in the protection and prolongation of military rule." The attempted coup offers perhaps the clearest evidence yet that Africa Corps' role in three Sahel countries extends beyond its stated mission of helping governments fight jihadist insurgencies. Russia is increasingly demonstrating that it can provide something perhaps even more valuable to the military rulers of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso: protection for the governments themselves. "It was not sufficient to bring stability," said Ochieng, "but it's enough to allow these military governments to have a political lifeline." The thwarted mutiny also highlights something the ruling junta may not want to admit - just how dependent on Moscow it has become for security.
In January, Africa Corps personnel also played an important role in repelling an attack at the same airport. "We saw videos of the jihadists walking around the airport basically completely unimpeded," said Jacob Boswall, a security analyst who tracks jihadist activity for the BBC's media monitoring service. "Probably there is some substance to the claim that Africa Corps was able to restore power in that case [in January].
And I think, again, in this case as well, that intervention was very significant." One of the Nigerien military's central justifications for the July 2023 coup, which saw Gen Abdourahamane Tiani seize power, was the deteriorating security situation and alleged failure of Niger's civilian authorities, under elected President Mohamed Bazoum, to tackle it. They also blamed Western partners at the time for their inability to contain jihadist violence. Yet, three years later, that insurgency remains unresolved.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have continued to launch attacks, including in the Tillabéri and Dosso regions. Some, inflicting heavy casualties on security forces. Ochieng described this latest mutiny as evidence of longstanding grievances within Niger's own military, compounded by the pressure the soldiers have been facing.
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