As part of the West African country's strengthening security ties with Moscow, Russian military instructors have arrived in Niger with an air defense system and other weaponry, state television said late Thursday.
The military administration of Niger decided in January to increase security cooperation with Russia following the withdrawal of French forces that were assisting in quelling Islamist insurrections in multiple Sahelian countries.
African Corps, which is thought of as the Wagner mercenary organization from Russia's Africa, verified its arrival in Niger on Friday.
On Wednesday night, a Russian freight plane was seen landing at the airport in Niamey by the station Tele Sahel.
It announced the arrival of "the most recent military hardware and instructors from the Russian Defense Ministry."
According to the claim, Russia will assist in "installing an air defence system... to ensure complete control of our airspace."
"We are here to train the Niger army and help it use the equipment that has just arrived," one of the instructors was reported as saying. The gear is intended for various military specializations.
The group posted on Telegram, "The first flight of African Corps troops and volunteers has arrived in Niger." Since the 2010s, the Wagner mercenary group has unofficially assisted the Kremlin's objectives in Africa.
The organization, which was renamed African Corps and reorganized after its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died in an unexplained plane crash in August 2023, is now officially recognized by the Kremlin as part of Russia's involvement in the Sahel. Vladimir Putin and General Abdourahamane Tiani, the president of Niger's military administration, had a phone conversation on March 26.
Authorities stated at the time, without providing further details, that the two leaders talked about "global strategic cooperation" against "current threats" in addition to security cooperation.
One of the poorest nations on earth, Niger has been fighting terrorists in the Sahel with the West as a front-line ally, but since the elected president was overthrown in July, the country has turned to Russia.
Along with its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, which were also overthrown by military coups, Niger has formed a combined force to combat protracted Islamist insurgencies. By the end of the previous year, 1,500 troops from the erstwhile colonial power France had left Niger, driven out by the junta.
In addition, the military declared that it was terminating a 2012 contract with the US, which had deployed some 1,000 troops and constructed a $100 million desert drone facility in northern Niger.
The military administration of Niger decided in January to increase security cooperation with Russia following the withdrawal of French forces that were assisting in quelling Islamist insurrections in multiple Sahelian countries.
African Corps, which is thought of as the Wagner mercenary organization from Russia's Africa, verified its arrival in Niger on Friday.
On Wednesday night, a Russian freight plane was seen landing at the airport in Niamey by the station Tele Sahel.
It announced the arrival of "the most recent military hardware and instructors from the Russian Defense Ministry."
According to the claim, Russia will assist in "installing an air defence system... to ensure complete control of our airspace."
"We are here to train the Niger army and help it use the equipment that has just arrived," one of the instructors was reported as saying. The gear is intended for various military specializations.
The group posted on Telegram, "The first flight of African Corps troops and volunteers has arrived in Niger." Since the 2010s, the Wagner mercenary group has unofficially assisted the Kremlin's objectives in Africa.
The organization, which was renamed African Corps and reorganized after its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died in an unexplained plane crash in August 2023, is now officially recognized by the Kremlin as part of Russia's involvement in the Sahel. Vladimir Putin and General Abdourahamane Tiani, the president of Niger's military administration, had a phone conversation on March 26.
Authorities stated at the time, without providing further details, that the two leaders talked about "global strategic cooperation" against "current threats" in addition to security cooperation.
One of the poorest nations on earth, Niger has been fighting terrorists in the Sahel with the West as a front-line ally, but since the elected president was overthrown in July, the country has turned to Russia.
Along with its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, which were also overthrown by military coups, Niger has formed a combined force to combat protracted Islamist insurgencies. By the end of the previous year, 1,500 troops from the erstwhile colonial power France had left Niger, driven out by the junta.
In addition, the military declared that it was terminating a 2012 contract with the US, which had deployed some 1,000 troops and constructed a $100 million desert drone facility in northern Niger.