Niger’s military government has appointed General Mamane Sani Kiaou as the new head of the armed forces, leading a major reshuffle of its senior military leadership following a failed mutiny late last month.
The changes were announced in a decree read on state television on Friday. General Kiaou, who previously served as the army’s chief of staff, replaces General Moussa Salaou Barmou. The military government gave no official reason for Barmou’s removal.
Under the same decree, General Abdourahmane Abou Zataka was promoted to succeed Kiaou as army chief of staff. Additionally, regional broadcaster RFI reported that General Ismael K Sidi Omar has been named second-in-command of the general staff. Sidi Omar previously commanded Base 101, the airport base at the center of the recent mutiny, where he remained loyal to junta leader Tchiani throughout the crisis.
The military government suppressed the mutiny with ground and air support from Russia’s Africa Corps, a state-backed force that replaced the Wagner mercenary group in several African nations. Dozens of mutineers were killed or arrested alongside three members of the presidential guard. The government has not disclosed an overall death toll or specified the charges facing the detained personnel.
General Kiaou is a field commander who previously led operations against armed groups in Niger’s western Tillaberi region and southeastern Diffa region. He also participated in negotiating the withdrawal of French and United States military personnel following the coup. State media reported that Kiaou recently completed a nationwide tour of the military’s main garrisons in an effort to restore internal unit cohesion.
Since taking power, Niger’s military leadership has severed security ties with both France and the U.S. in favor of closer alignment with Russia, while security challenges in the country remain active. Niger’s government publicly accused France of orchestrating last month’s mutiny, an allegation the French government has rejected as “pure fantasy.”
Sources
[Al Jazeera News](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/13/niger-military-government-reshuffles-army-command-weeks-after-deadly-mutiny?traffic_source=rss)
Source: Al Jazeera News
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Story synopsis gathered from: Al Jazeera News — source
