junta asks for help from Russian group Wagner as it faces military intervention threat

By Sam Mednick

The Associated Press

NIAMEY, Niger—Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner as the deadline n ears for it to release the country’s ousted president or face possible military intervention by the West African re gional bloc, according to an analyst. The request came during a visit by a coup leader, Gen. Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, where he made contact with someone from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press. He said three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the meeting first reported by France 24.

“They need (Wagner) because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” he said, adding that the group is considering the request. A Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, told the AP they have also heard reports that the junta asked for help from

Wagner in Mali.

Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc, known a s ECOWAS, to release and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has described himself as a hostage.

Defense chiefs from ECOWAS member states finalized an intervention p lan on Friday and urged militaries to prepare resources after a mediation team sent to Niger on Thursday w asn’t allowed to enter the capital or meet with junta leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani.

O n Saturday, Nigeria’s Senate advised the nation’s president, the current ECOWAS chair, to further explore o ptions other than the use of force to restore democracy in Niger, noting the “existing cordial relationship between Nigeriens and Nigerians.” The legislators had deliberated on the president’s re quest informing them of ECOWAS’ decisions and Nigeria’s involvement, as required by law.

Final decisions by ECOWAS, however, are taken by a consensus among its member countries.

After his visit to Mali, run by a sym - pathetic junta, Mody warned against a m ilitary intervention, vowing that Niger would do what it takes not to become “a new Libya,” Niger’s state television reported Friday.

Niger has been seen as the West’s last reliable counterterrorism partner in a region where coups have been c ommon in recent years. Juntas have rejected former colonizer France and turned toward Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, where human r ights groups have accused its forces of deadly abuses.

It isn’t possible to say Russia is directly involved in Niger’s coup, but “clearly, there’s an opportunistic attitude on the part of Russia, which t ries to support destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” French foreign affairs ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre told broadcaster BFM on Friday. For days after N iger’s junta seized power, residents waved Russian flags in the streets.

The spokeswoman described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.” S ome residents rejected the junta’s approach.

“It’s all a sham,” said Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the U niversity of Niamey. “They oppose foreign interference to restore constitutional order and legality. But on t he contrary, they are ready to make a pact with Wagner and Russia to undermine the constitutional order ... T hey are prepared for the country to go up in flames so that they can illegally maintain their position.”

O n Saturday, France’s foreign affairs minister, Catherine Colonna, s aid the regional threat of force was credible and warned the putschists to take it seriously. “Coups are no longer appropriate ... It’s time to put an end to it,” she said. The ministry said France supported the ECOWAS efforts “with firmness and determination” and called for Bazoum and all members of his government to be freed.

But Algeria, which borders Niger to the north, told another visiting ECOWAS delegation that it opposed a military intervention, though it too wants a return to constitutional order.

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Rain continued to pelt northeastern China in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri Saturday, as authorities reported more fatalities and missing people while evacuating thousands more.

One person died and five went missing in the city of Shulan in Jilin province, which has seen five straight days of rainfall, according to state media.

Over 14,300 people were evacuated from the city of more than 700,000, according to the local disaster relief agency. State news agency China News Service showed images of waterlogged streets around homes and factories. The average precipitation in the city had reached 111.7 mm (4.4 inches) by Friday afternoon.

China is struggling with record-breaking rainfall in some areas while others suffer scorching summer heat and drought that threatens crops. The heavy rains—remnants of Typhoon Doksuri—have battered northern China since late July, disrupting the lives of millions. Flooding near Beijing and in neighboring Hebei province this week killed at least 22 people.

In northeastern Heilongjiang province, which is known as China’s “great northern granary,” rain inundated farms and flooded streets, leading to the evacuation of thousands.

In the city of Shangzhi, heavy rainfall turned roads into rivers and inundated thousands of households.

National emergency management authorities said 25 rivers across Heilongjiang threatened to burst their banks, while disaster relief groups have been dispatched to the province.

In Heilongjiang’s capital of Harbin, more than 53,000 people had to be evacuated as multiple reservoirs and rivers exceeded safety levels while some 41,600 hectares (103,000 acres) of crops were damaged.

In the city of Yushu in Jilin province, about 120 kilometers south of Harbin, flooding forced the evacuation of around 19,000 people.

Meanwhile, in Hebei province around Beijing, which saw some of the region’s worst flooding in the past few weeks, authorities issued fresh alerts for rainstorms on Saturday. Floodwaters in Zhuozhou, southwest of Beijing started to recede Saturday, state media reported, allowing some of the 125,000 evacuated residents to return to their homes.

The death toll in the 11 million-strong city of Baoding reached 10 while another 18 people are still missing, local authorities said Saturday.

Floods damaged roads and washed away bridges in the city’s Yesanpo Scenic Area, a national park known for its gorges and mountains. AP

Deadly violence flares in Manipur ahead of Modi confidence vote

By Debjit Chakraborty

AT l east six people were killed and armories were looted as conflict erupted again in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur ahead of a no-confidence motion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for failing to contain earlier clashes.

There were daylong violence between two ethnic groups and attacks on security personnel on Saturday, according to a social media post by the Manipur police and local reports. The police said it’s raiding areas to recover arms and ammunitions stolen from the armories.

Clashes between minority tribal groups and majority Meitei Hindus over affirmative action policies have left more than 150 people dead since May.

A video last month surfaced on social media showing two women getting sexually assaulted, drawing attention and public anger to the ethnic conflict in the state ruled by Modi’s Hindu nationalist

Bharatiya Janata Party. That pushed Modi to make his first public comments on the clashes that has engulfed relatively remote Manipur, which borders Myanmar.

Opposition parties used the video incident to lodge a no-confidence motion against the government in parliament. The government is expected to discuss and reply on the motion from Aug. 8-10.

The no confidence vote doesn’t pose a threat to the government because of its overwhelming majority in the lower house of parliament, but the debate will offer an opportunity to the opposition to corner it on sensitive issues such as women’s safety ahead of crucial upcomin g elections.

The renewed Manipur violence follows deadly religious clashes this month between Hindus and Muslims near India’s capital, and threatens to taint Modi’s efforts to showcase India as a strategic counterweight and investment alternative to China. Bloomberg News