In July 2023, disgruntled officers overthrew Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum in a coup, claiming that Bazoum's government was not effectively countering the insurgencies of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin in the western part of the country.

JNIM and ISGS are most active in the tri-border area between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, the latter two having had coups that installed military juntas within the past two years.

[5][6] Only ten bodies of soldiers, who fell in an ambush near Petel Kole, were symbolically buried in Martyrs' Square in Niamey.

[5] According to security and medical sources interviewed by RFI, at least ninety soldiers and fifty civilians were killed in the attack.

[7] Communications Minister Sidi Mohamed Railou also filed a complaint against RFI for "orchestrating a vast campaign of disinformation.