Islamist militants in Niger have significantly stepped up their attacks in the months since generals here ousted the elected president, jettisoning the counterterrorism support of French forces and throwing into doubt cooperation with the American military. Until the coup in late July, this West African nation had been a reliable ally of the United States and Europe — a democratic success story in a region plagued by coups, a key ally in battling Islamic extremism and a counterweight to Russia’s growing regional influence. But the coup leaders, buoyed by a wave of anti-French sentiment sweeping France’s former West African colonies, are increasingly isolated from their onetime allies. Directing much of its vitriol at France, the new government has pressured the French ambassador to leave and asked all of France’s 1,500 troops to depart in the coming months. The coup leaders have also expelled the United Nations’ top diplomat and proved ... intransigent in negotiations that the United States

Violent incidents targeting civilians by the Islamic State’s Sahel branch quadrupled in the month following the coup, while dozens of soldiers have been killed in attacks blamed on ISIS and al-Qaeda-affiliated Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in recent months, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

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