NIGER’S JUNTA RULERS ASK FOR HELP FROM RUSSIAN GROUP WAGNER AS IT FACES MILITARY INTERVENTION THREAT. “Niger has been seen as the West’s last reliable counterterrorism partner in a region where coups have been common in recent years. Juntas have rejected former colonizer France and turning toward Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, where human rights groups have accused its forces of deadly abuses.”