France has started the evacuation of French and European citizens from Niger after neighbouring nations Mali and Burkina Faso warned that any foreign intervention to restore the ousted government will be seen as a declaration of war.
The democratically elected President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum and his government were overthrown by a military junta last week in the seventh military takeover in West and Central Africa in less than three years. ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc, has threatened to use force to reinstate Bazoum. This came as Mali and Burkina Faso said they would come to Niger’s defence. Both these neighbouring nations are also ruled by military juntas.
Evacuations
With the risk of a war looming, Spain is preparing to evacuate over 70 of its citizens by air. Italy too said it would organise a repatriation flight, while Germany has urged its citizens to join the French flights.
Several senior politicians of Niger have been arrested by the country’s new military leaders who have also warned against any foreign attempts to extract Bazoum. The captured leader is shut in his palace.
“Considering the ongoing coup in Niger and the fact that the situation continues to be worrying, we decided to make sure that the French citizens who want to leave Niger can do so,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told France’s LCI TV.
As per Colonna’s estimate, hundreds of French citizens and hundreds of other EU citizens were hoping to be evacuated on flights. She hopes the evacuation will be completed in 24 hours.
A plane registered to the French armed forces was reported leaving the airport of the capital Niamey on Tuesday, as per Flightradar data. Earlier, a crowd of expats gathered outside the terminal with their suitcases, photos shared with Reuters showed.
“I never thought we would leave like this,” said a French woman who was waiting to depart with her family and sent messages to Reuters by phone. “It’s a scene worthy of a war movie.”
A mix of concerns and support
The situation in Niger has garnered reactions from all around. Earlier this week, Russia expressed its concerns over last week’s military coup in the nation. The coup has been condenmened by several nations, however, Russia’s mercenary Wagnr group welcomed the move. Russia’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the issue of Niger “a matter of serious concern”. He added that the nation is in favour of the restoration of “rule of law” in Niger.
Earlier, West African nations imposed sanctions and threatened force if the coup leaders failed to reinstate Bazoum within a week.
Mali and Burkina Faso have said they would withdraw from ECOWAS and take up measures of legitimate defence” to support Niger’s army and people if ECOWAS intervened.
The US has also condemned the coup. A senior State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Washington’s objective is to support West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS in its efforts to reverse the takeover. “We don’t think it’s fully successful, and we think there’s a narrow opportunity to reverse it,” the official told reporters.
(With Reuters inputs)