EU Pleased Sanctions Cause Food, Medicine Shortages in Niger, Special Envoy Says

ROME (Sputnik) – On July 30, in response to a fresh coup in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended all financial aid, froze rebels’ assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country, as well as closed all borders. Nigeria, Niger’s southern neighbor, cut electricity supply to the nation.

EU Pleased Sanctions Cause Food, Medicine Shortages in Niger, Special Envoy Says

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France furious with US over Niger, as US Considers Ways to Keep Its Military Presence in Niger

Washington has chosen its own interests over its allies, a French diplomat has told the newspaper, following Victoria Nuland’s visit to Niger

France furious with US over Niger – Le Figaro

Related:

US Considers Ways to Keep Its Military Presence in Niger

Turse explained in a recent article that in 2002 and 2003, the first years of US counterterrorism assistance to Niger, the State Department counted just nine terrorist attacks in all of Africa.

“Last year, the number of violent events in Burkina Faso, Mali, and western Niger alone reached 2,737, according to a report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research institution. This represents a jump of more than 30,000 percent since the US began its counterterrorism efforts,” Turse wrote.

Why might Africa want France gone? + ECOWAS Activates Standby Force for Potential Niger Intervention

Let’s continue to follow the post-coup situation in Niger. We had Victoria Nuland travel to Niger, presumably to help organize the overthrow of the government since 1- that’s usually what a visit from Nuland portends and 2 – a “rebel movement” called the Council of Resistance for the Republic under the leadership of someone named Rhissa Ag Boula started just after her visit. If there is going to be a Western war over this coup, it is likely that Nigeria – the giant country in West Africa with 224M people, much bigger than all other countries in the region combined – will be a part of the intervention, as would France and presumably the US. Other countries of the region are lining up on one or the other side, with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Algeria all lining up with the post-coup Niger government, so we are in a scary situation.

Why might Africa want France gone?

Related:

ECOWAS Activates Standby Force for Potential Niger Intervention

Niger Coup Leader Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou Was Trained By The US Military

The Intercept has verified that Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, the head of Niger’s Special Operations Forces and a key figure in the unfolding coup in Niger, received training from the U.S. military. Since 2008, military officers trained by the United States have been involved in 11 coups in West Africa.

Niger Coup Leader Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou Was Trained By The US Military

Related:

Army in Niger backs coup as U.S. forces in the country assess situation

Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning) is home to the former School of the Americas.

Ethiopia blocks social media amid Orthodox church tensions

Ethiopia blocks social media amid Orthodox church tensions:

The religious crisis erupted last month after a group of rebellious ethnic Oromo archbishops formed a breakaway group called the Holy Synod of Oromia in defiance of the church’s highest body or the synod.

The splinter group accuses the church of “maintaining a system of linguistic and cultural hegemony in which congregations in Oromia are not served in their native languages“, an allegation the church denies.

H/T: Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed suspends American big tech

Related:

The Lingering Danger of Google & Facebook

Another schism?! Is the Holy Synod of Oromia supported by the US?! TBD, soon.

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