Mutinous Soldiers Say They’vE Taken Niger. The Government Says A Coup Won’t Be Tolerated

People in Niger awoke to a divided country Thursday after mutinous soldiers claimed to have ousted the president. But the government said it will never accept their rule and has called for the population to reject it.

“There was an attempted coup, but of course we cannot accept it,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassoumi Massoudou told news network France 24 in an interview Thursday.

“We call on all Nigerien democratic patriots to stand up as one to say no to this factious action that tends to set us back decades and block the progress of our country,” he said. He also called for the president’s unconditional release and said talks were ongoing.

Read more: AP