Mutinous Niger soldiers have closed the country's airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing an attack, as the junta defied a deadline to restore the ousted president and warned that any attempt to fly over the country would be met with "vigorous and immediate answer".
Niger state television announced the move late Sunday, hours before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded that the coup leaders reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face military force.
A spokesman for the coup leaders, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, warned of "the threat that an intervention is being prepared in a neighboring country" and said that Niger's airspace is closed until further notice.
The junta assured that two Central African countries have joined the preparations for an invasion, but did not say which ones, and called on the country's population to defend it. It was not immediately clear what ECOWAS will do now that the deadline has passed.
Thousands of people in Niger's capital Niamey attended a rally at a stadium on Sunday to support the coup leaders.
Niger had been seen by the United States, France and other partners as its last major counterterrorism partner in the vast Sahel region, south of the Sahara desert, where groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic Group state have been expanding their influence.
The future of some 1,500 French servicemen and 1,100 US servicemen in Niger has been put on hold, although junta leaders have broken security agreements with Paris and the former metropolis currently lacks a mandate to remain in the country.
