West African nations imposed sanctions and threatened force on Sunday if Niger's coup leaders fail to reinstate ousted President Mohammed Bazoum within a week, while supporters of the junta attacked the French Embassy in Niamey.

The 15-nation ECOWAS bloc's response to the Sahel region's seventh coup of recent years came as crowds in Niger's capital Niamey burned French flags and stoned the former colonial power's mission, drawing tear gas from police.

Images showed fires at the embassy walls and people being loaded into ambulances with bloodied legs.