The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, communicated this Sunday that, for the moment, there is no information about injured or deceased among the troops of Italy deployed in Niger, after the attempted coup that shook the capital of the African country, Niamey, in the early hours of Saturday.
In the vicinity of Air Base 101 in Niamey, one of the key points of the uprising, operates the Bilateral Support Mission for Niger, launched in 2018 and aimed at supporting the strategy of the Italian government regarding migration control.
This operation, made up of about 250 military personnel, constitutes one of the last Western detachments remaining in Niger, a country now under the control of a military junta that has severed its ties with its former colonial power, France, to strengthen cooperation with Russia, especially in the field of combating jihadism.
Through a brief message disseminated on his social media profiles, Tajani emphasized that "our compatriots in the country and the military are well" and took the opportunity to express his gratitude for the work they are carrying out.
In recent hours, the situation in Niamey seems to have stabilized and the intervention of Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps has managed to prevail against what, according to security sources cited by local media, would so far be a group of rebel elite forces that would have tried to seize power, tired of the continuous attacks carried out by jihadist militias.
The head of Italian diplomacy has stressed that "the stability of Niger is fundamental for the security of the entire Sahel region, crucial also for combating illegal trafficking and irregular migration flows."
In this line, he emphasized that "Italy will continue to be at the forefront for the stability of this area, whose events have direct effects on the Mediterranean and Europe. We wish for a swift return to order, with the full protection of the civilian population."