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Military chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States meet Thursday and Friday in Ghana to discuss a potential military intervention in response to last month’s coup in Niger.
ECOWAS said Wednesday it had “commenced the activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force for the restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.”
The regional bloc said the meetings in Accra would be to finalize plans for deploying the standby force.
The talks follow an insurgent attack in which Niger’s military junta said 17 of its soldiers were killed.
Junta leaders have said deposing President Mohamed Bazoum was necessary to respond to violence by Islamic extremists.
ECOWAS said in a statement following the attack that junta leaders should restore constitutional order in Niger “in order to focus on the security of the country that has become increasingly fragile” since the coup.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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