France, Italy and Spain announced evacuations from Niger for their citizens and other European nationals Tuesday, concerned that they risked becoming trapped by a coup that won backing from three other West African nations ruled by mutinous soldiers.
NIAMEY, Niger — A French military transport plane carrying Europeans departed Niger on Tuesday in the first such evacuation flight since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president nearly a week ago and shut its borders.
The ministry cited recent violence that targeted its embassy in Niamey, the capital, as one of the reasons for its decision to offer evacuation flights to its citizens and other Europeans. Spain’s Defense Ministry announced preparations to evacuate more than 70 nationals, and Italy also said it was arranging a flight.
The West African regional body known as ECOWAS announced travel and economic sanctions against Niger on Sunday and said it could use force if coup leaders don’t reinstate Bazoum within one week. Mali and Burkina Faso have each undergone two coups since 2020, as soldiers overthrew governments claiming they could do a better job fighting increasing jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. ECOWAS has suspended them from the bloc, but never threatened to use force.
Niger could be following in the same footsteps as Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which saw protesters waving Russian flags after their coups, analysts say.Boubacar Moussa, a former member of an al-Qaida linked group known as JNIM, said the military overthrow is exactly what the jihadis want because it will distract and weaken the army. “Jihadis are very supportive of this coup that happened in Niger, because it will allow them to become very strong,” he said.
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