NAIROBI, August 29. /TASS/. The attempted mutiny by military personnel in Niger may have been coordinated by external forces, Russian ambassador to Niger Viktor Voropayev said in an interview with TASS.

According to the diplomat, young officers from the Tillaberi and Dosso regions are taking part in the mutiny.

"Most likely, these young officers are being orchestrated from outside," he said, adding that if the rebels had succeeded in seizing the airport and other key facilities, they could have paved the way for the arrival of external forces.

Voropayev did not directly accuse any country of organizing the mutiny. However, he noted that France was highly dissatisfied with developments in the Sahel and its loss of influence in the region.

According to the Niger Press Agency, citing Niger’s Minister of National Defense Salifou Modi, a group of military personnel attempted at about 12:20 a.m. on August 29 to confine fellow soldiers to a barracks at Air Force Base 101 and opened fire at several strategically important facilities in Niamey.

Modi said the rapid response of security forces helped contain the uprising and gradually restore control over the facilities. The Defense Ministry called on residents to remain calm.