ECOWAS Defense Chiefs Meet to Discuss Niger Intervention

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the likelihood of an ECOWAS military intervention in Niger, Quran burnings in Sweden and Pakistan, and mass wildfire evacuations in Canada.

Members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gathered in Accra, Ghana, on Thursday for a two-day summit to discuss and finalize plans to deploy troops to Niger as part of a military intervention to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. Senior ECOWAS leaders said the 15-nation bloc is ready to forcibly intervene should diplomatic efforts to reverse the nation’s coup fail.

“By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country,” said Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security. Musah pointed to past ECOWAS interventions in Gambia and Liberia as evidence of the body’s experience and readiness. However, ECOWAS deploying a military “standby force” would be an unprecedented move, as past ECOWAS interventions have only involved peacekeeping missions.

But not all member states are ready to support a military initiative. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea all stated that they will side with Niger’s junta leaders if the West African bloc deploys forces to the country. All three nations are run by military governments that seized power in coups. Cape Verde also refused to assist a standby force. Ghana officials, meanwhile, have expressed hesitancy over invading a bordering nation, and the African Union is reportedly divided on whether to support ECOWAS’s proposed intervention.

Niger remains of strategic importance for ensuring stability in the region and abroad, and Western nations have used the West African state as a hub for foreign troops to fight Islamist extremism in the Sahel. Reports indicate that the U.S. Defense Department is continuing to look for ways to maintain intelligence-gathering forces in Niamey if the U.S. State Department officially defines Niger’s military takeover as a coup. So far, ECOWAS, France, and the European Union have all deemed the junta a coup d’état, but Washington has hesitated to make that final leap, knowing that legal determination would strip the U.S. military of certain functions and funding in the area.

“It’s like the grayest of the gray areas you could think of,” said Alan Van Saun, a former U.S. Army special forces officer who worked with Brig. Gen. Moussa Barmou, Niger’s junta-proclaimed defense chief. U.S. officials “absolutely have a national interest in that area staying secure. But we also have an international interest in promoting democratic processes and due process.”

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Quran burnings. Swedish officials raised the country’s terror threat level from three to four on a five-point scale on Thursday following a series of high-profile Quran burnings. The most recent occurred on Monday, when two men set fire to the Islamic holy book outside of Stockholm’s Royal Palace. Their demonstration protested recent Swedish efforts to crack down on Quran burnings despite the Nordic nation’s robust free speech laws. Over the last few months, Sweden and its neighbor Denmark have been the epicenter of a global debate surrounding Islamophobia and free speech.

But Stockholm isn’t the only nation grappling with Quran burnings this week. On Thursday, Pakistani police arrested more than 100 rioters in the city of Jaranwala after they burned down numerous churches and vandalized homes in response to allegations that a local Christian family had burned a copy of the Quran. Whether such an incident took place is still unclear, especially since Pakistan has a history of people falsely accusing religious minorities of blasphemy. Blasphemy is technically punishable by death in the country. Public gatherings in the district have been suspended for seven days as regional officials work to subdue the violence.

Wildfires ravage Canada. Local rescuers worked to evacuate nearly 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, Canada, on Thursday to prepare for an incoming wildfire. The blaze is set to hit the Northwest Territories capital by the weekend, with the region’s lack of rain potentially accelerating that timeline.

Almost 33 million acres of Canadian land have been scorched by wildfires this season, with hundreds of blazes still burning across the country. Devastating droughts, intense heat waves, and other effects of climate change are worsening Ottawa’s crisis, and the Northwest Territories remains one of the worst-hit territories.

Hunger strike. Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was admitted to an intensive care unit at a Dakar hospital late Wednesday, local authorities announced on Thursday. Sonko has been on hunger strike for the past 18 days to protest allegations that he plotted an insurrection against the ruling Alliance for the Republic party. He is currently serving a two-year prison sentence for allegedly committing sexual assault, something Sonko continues to deny. Opposition party officials have refused to comment on the status of Sonko’s health.

Italian cheesemakers are adding an extra crunch to their parmesan. To keep the competition from claiming off-brand Parmigiano-Reggiano is the real deal, producers of the delicious pasta topping are inserting edible microchips into their cheese wheels. When scanned, the block’s authenticity will be confirmed via a unique serial number. Bon appétit!