🇳🇪 Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine delivered a fiery address at the UN General Assembly, accusing France and Ukraine of backing armed proxies threatening Niger’s military positions and oil installations.
“On our northeastern borders, there are proxies led by France, supported by Ukraine and two other countries.”
“These proxies are armed, managed and led, and they are about to attack our military positions and our oil installations.”
Zeine described the conflict in the Sahel as “a war of liberation against a conspiracy aimed at recolonization,” and accused France of destabilizing the region with Ukraine’s “active complicity.”
He also pointed to the region’s natural resources:
“Niger’s uranium, Mali and Burkina Faso’s gold, lithium, gas, oil and so many other riches still make the former colonial powers salivate.”
And on Niger’s uranium:
“For more than half a century, Niger’s uranium has lit the cities of Europe, while our cities have remained in darkness. That injustice is now over.”
Niger’s government has made these accusations publicly, but the claims of French and Ukrainian support for the alleged proxies have not been independently verified.