Niger’s ruling military junta has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to leave the country immediately, a source told AFP Wednesday.

Niger has “terminated its agreements” with the ICRC and some foreign staff have started to leave the West African country, the source said, adding the organisation had closed its office in the capital, Niamey, on Tuesday.

Nigerien media said the government had ordered the closure of the humanitarian group’s offices and the immediate departure of foreign staff.

No reason was given for the decision.

The Red Cross had been working in Niger since 1990, recently focussing on aid for victims of years of violence by jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Since taking power in a coup in July 2023, the Sahel nation’s military rulers have made “national sovereignty” a rallying cry.

The junta has chilly relations with former colonial ruler France, instead forging ties with fellow juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali — as well as with Russia.

In January, interior minister, General Mohamed Toumba, said the government was taking “important measures to ensure the monitoring and supervision” of NGOs and development organisations.

“Our investigations have indicated there are many NGOs that are in close association with certain partners that are bringing us war… through their support to the terrorists,” he said.

Niger previously banned French humanitarian NGO Acted and local non-profit APBE in November, withdrawing their licenses.

The French NGO had been working in the impoverished country since 2009, notably tending to people displaced by jihadist violence.

Since the coup, Niger’s authorities have expelled both the French and US soldiers fighting against the region’s jihadist threat, as well as the French ambassador. (AFP)