The French embassy in Niamey said Tuesday that the country’s nationals will be evacuated very soon from Niger, where a coup last week sparked anti-French protests.
“In the face of a deteriorating security situation in Niamey, and taking advantage of the relative calm in Niamey, an operation of evacuation by air from Niamey is being prepared”, the embassy said in a message to French citizens, adding that the evacuations will take place very soon in a very limited span of time.
When President Mohamed Bazoum was deposed last week by elite troops from his own Presidential Guard, Niger became the third Sahel country in less than three years, following neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso.
In all three countries, jihadist insurgencies have strained fragile regimes, fueled military rage, and wreaked economic havoc on some of the world’s poorest nations.
The removal of elected presidents in the former French colonies has been accompanied by anti-French, pro-Russian protests.
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