The United States State Department told media that Niger's Foreign Ministry informed Washington that the images of a statement circulating on the internet and claiming that the US ambassador has been asked to leave the country were not issued by the ministry.
"The US government has not received a request from the Niger Foreign Ministry, which is under the control of the rebels, to withdraw diplomatic personnel from the country," the State Department explained.
Previously, AFP reported that the United States and German ambassadors to Niger, alongside the Nigerian and Ivory Coast ambassadors, were declared persona non grata and given 48 hours to leave. Later, the media outlet corrected itself, stating that the previous posts were "declared unauthentic by authorities" and deleted them. Niger's military rulers issued the request to the ambassador of France, an action Paris denounced.
