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Niger general Tchiani named head of transitional government after coup

Abdourahmane Tchiani, head of Niger’s presidential guard

28 July 2023 15:41 (UTC +04:00)

Abdourahmane Tchiani, head of Niger’s presidential guard, has been named head of a transitional government in the West African country, two days after his unit overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, APA reports citing Al Jazeera.

The announcement was made on Friday on state-run television, which said Tchiani had been named “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland”.

The 62-year-old general, who was drafted to lead the elite unit in 2015, is from Niger’s western region of Tillaberi, a main recruitment area for the army. He remains a close ally of former President Mahamadou Issoufou – the politician who led the country until 2021.

Tchiani led the resistance to a thwarted coup attempt in March 2021, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace days before Bazoum, who had just been elected, was due to be sworn in.