Soldiers confirm Niger coup on TV

A spokesman for a group of mutinous soldiers in Niger said on state TV that a coup d’etat had occurred, adding that the African country’s constitution had been suspended and its republican institutions have been dissolved.

The spokesman, who was wearing a military uniform, sat in front of the TV camera surrounded by a large group of soldiers.

He said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy.

He stressed that all of Niger’s treaties would be respected and asked that the international community have faith in them.

Soldiers contacted by telephone inside one of the capital’s barracks said the leader of the coup is Colonel Djibril Adamou Harouna.