Niger expresses its desire to buy weapons from Russia

Niger's Interior Minister, Mohamed Toumba, confirmed that his country is interested in training local security forces by Russian military specialists and wants to purchase weapons from Russia.

Tomba told reporters: “Our cooperation with Russia is related to (military) training, which is necessary to combat terrorism. We want the Russians to train our forces regarding combat and the use of weapons, and we plan to buy weapons from Russia.”

Last month, Niger's ruling military junta announced the end of the military cooperation agreement with the United States, and considered the presence of American forces on Niger's territory illegal and inconsistent with Niger's interests.

The military government in Niger that emerged from the coup agreed to strengthen defense cooperation with Russia in January, after it expelled the French forces that were present on its territory as part of the “fight against jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa.”

Earlier this April, Novosti reported that Russian experts arrived in Niger to train local security forces in combating terrorism.

The agency quoted a Russian expert as saying, "The African Corps will establish relations here, and will also help form and train Niger's army."