Supporters of the Alliance Of Sahel States (AES) drive with flags as they celebrate Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Niamey on January 28, 2024. Hama Boureima/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Michel Euler/AP hide caption
Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger's ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. Sam Mednick/AP hide caption
French soldiers assist mostly French nationals in a bus waiting to be airlifted back to France on a French military aircraft, at the international Airport in Niamey, Niger, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Sam Mednick/AP hide caption
Nigeriens participate in a march called by supporters of coup leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, July 30, 2023. Days after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger's democratically elected president, uncertainty is mounting about the country's future and some are calling out the junta's reasons for seizing control. The sign reads: "Down with France, long live Putin." Sam Mednick/AP hide caption
Supporters of the Nigerien defence and security forces gather during a demonstration outside the national assembly in Niamey on July 27, 2023. -/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A general view of billowing smoke as supporters of Niger's defense and security forces attack the headquarters of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, the party of overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum, in Niamey, Thursday. AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Supporters of the Nigerien defence and security forces gather during a demonstration outside the national assembly in Niamey on July 27, 2023. The head of Niger's armed forces on July 27, 2023 said he endorsed a declaration by troops who overnight announced they had taken power after detaining the country's elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. -/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Col. Major Amadou Abdramane, center, is shown speaking during a televised statement. Soldiers claimed on July 26, 2023, to have overthrown the government of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum in a statement read out on national television. -/ORTN - Télé Sahel/AFP via Getty hide caption
President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum delivers a speech at a financial summit in Paris, June 22. On Wednesday, he said members of the presidential guard tried to move against him. Ludovic Marin/AP hide caption
Niger's Electoral Commission workers count the ballots at a polling station during Niger's presidential election runoff in Niamey on Sunday. In the country's west, a vehicle carrying poll workers struck a landmine, killing seven and seriously wounding three others. It's unclear if the vehicle was deliberately attacked. Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The Department of Defense said on Saturday that U.S. forces had rescued an American held in Northern Nigeria in an early morning operation. The American had been taken captive in Niger earlier this week. Charles Dharapak/AP hide caption
Leather sandals, made by Saley, on display along with other items. Pearl Mak/NPR hide caption
Nigerien commandos simulate a raid on a militant camp during U.S.-sponsored exercises in Ouallam, Niger, in April 2018. A spokesman for the Nigerien army says 71 soldiers were killed in an attack on Tuesday. Aaron Ross/Reuters hide caption
Soumana Saley, a leather craftsman from Niger. Pearl Mak/NPR hide caption