Niger Calls On Regional Neighbors To Step Up Efforts In Combating Terrorism

Newly sworn-in President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum urged countries in the region to mobilize efforts in fighting against terrorism during his inaugural speech on Friday

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2021) Newly sworn-in President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum urged countries in the region to mobilize efforts in fighting against terrorism during his inaugural speech on Friday.

Bazoum's victory in the February election was confirmed by the constitutional court in March amid calls for nationwide protests from the opposition. On Friday, the inauguration ceremony began in Niger's capital, Niamey, only few days after a failed coup attempt.

The ceremony is attended by the leaders of Togo, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire, as well as by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"Boko Haram and Islamic State [both terrorist organizations are banned in Russia] terrorists commit bloody murders and bring great grief to Niger. Countering them requires mobilization of efforts by Niger and its neighbors, especially Mali and Nigeria," Bazoum said in his speech as broadcast by the state tv.

The president also called on the countries of the Sahel Five and the member states of the UN Security Council "to help in the fight against terrorism in Niger."

On Monday, then President-elect Bazoum called the French-led operation to defeat jihadists in Africa's Sahel region a "relative failure" and wished to see better results from the cooperation a week after a deadly attack by insurgents in western Niger killed at least 137 villagers.

France has sent thousands of troops to the former francophone colonies of Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso as part of the ongoing Operation Barkhane since 2013 to help governments roll back Islamist insurgency. It currently maintains 5,100 troops in the Sahel.