Iran Press/ Africa: France prepared to evacuate French and other European nationals from Niger on Tuesday, telling them to carry no more than a small bag, after a military coup there won backing from three other West African nations ruled by mutinous soldiers.
The French Foreign Ministry in Paris cited recent violence that targeted the French Embassy in Niamey, the capital, as one of the reasons for the decision, The Associated Press reported.
The closure of Niger’s airspace also “leaves our compatriots unable to leave the country by their own means,” the ministry said.
The evacuation comes during a deepening crisis sparked by the coup last week against Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
The evacuation was starting Tuesday for French and other European citizens who wish to leave Niger, the French ministry said in a statement. It gave no other details. It estimates that several hundred French citizens are currently in Niger, a former French colony.
In hotels in the capital, French and other European citizens, including some who have worked in the country for years, packed their bags awaiting news of where and when the evacuation would happen.
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