Niger’s military junta, which took power in a coup on July 26, has told French ambassador Sylvain Itte to pack his bags and leave the country within two days, as tensions rise between the West African nation and its former colonial master.

The coup in Niger was part of a wave of anti-French sentiment sweeping across the region, with some people accusing France of meddling in their affairs. Similar coups have happened in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, where French troops have been fighting Islamist militants.

The junta-appointed foreign ministry said in a statement that it decided to expel the ambassador because of actions by the French government that were “against the interests of Niger.”

It said these included the envoy’s snubbing of an invitation to meet Niger’s new foreign minister.

The French foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Fake statements circulated online on Friday that seemed to show Niger ordering the U.S. ambassador and German ambassador to leave the country in the same way as the French envoy.

But the U.S. State Department on Friday said Niger had told it this was not true. “No such request has been made to the U.S. government,” it said.

A source in the junta and a Nigerien security source said only the French ambassador had been asked to leave.

The coup has strained Niger’s long-standing relationship with France and cast doubt on the future of joint military operations to combat an Islamist insurgency in the troubled Sahel region.

France has demanded that President Mohamed Bazoum be restored to power after his overthrow and has backed efforts by West African regional bloc ECOWAS to reverse the coup.

It has also not officially accepted a decision by the junta in early August to cancel a number of military agreements with France, saying these had been signed with Niger’s “legitimate authorities.”

Niger’s relations with France have followed a similar pattern as those of Mali and Burkina Faso, which have kicked out French forces and cut off long-standing ties.

Niger is a strategically important country as one of the world’s largest producers of uranium and as a base for French, U.S. and other foreign troops that are helping to fight Islamist militant groups in the region.