Bulgarian Commandos Trapped in Niger to Be Freed in Hours

Niger President Mamadou Tandja has been outsted in a coup by a military junta. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has announced that the Bulgarian special police officers trapped in Niger will be freed later on Friday.

After a coup d’etat in Niger’s capital Niamey, 10 Bulgarian commandos were trapped in a hotel together with Belgian officers. The Belgian and Bulgarian police were carrying out an operation for repatriating foreign citizens.

Tsvetanov made it clear his expectation that the Bulgarian and Belgian commandos would be allowed by the junta that carried out the coup to take off within several hours, i.e. later on Friday.