Niger closes its airspace as it warns of a foreign attack

Niger’s junta partially closed the country’s airspace, warning of an attack by a “foreign power” as a deadline passed on Sunday to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. The deadline, imposed by West African neighbors, threatened intervention, though there was no sign of any military action as yet. Coup leaders said, however, action against them was unfolding. “The planning for this war was carried out,” junta spokesman Amadou Abdramane said on state broadcaster Tele Sahel. “A pre-deployment of forces to participate in this war has begun in two countries in central Africa.” He provided no further details. Niger on Sunday said it had closed its airspace for international flights except for a few countries including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya and Chad that have spoken out against a military intervention. “Any state from which military action is directed against Niger will be considered pro-belligerent,“ Abdramane said. West Africa’s defense chiefs agreed to a plan for a potential military intervention in Abuja on Friday after a three-day meeting of regional defense officials. It was unclear on Sunday at what time Ecowas, as the 15-member bloc is known, would consider the deadline to reinstate Bazoum to have passed. Any intervention was complicated over the weekend by the Senate in neighboring Nigeria, which urged diplomacy over military action, at least for now. <br/>