France evacuates citizens from Niger as violence escalates amid coup

Niger’s president was detained by soldiers carrying out a coup last week

France announced a planned evacuation from Niger after a military coup in its former colony won backing from two 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 closure of Niger's airspace also “leaves our compatriots unable to leave the country by their own means,” the ministry said. Niger was a colony of France until 1960.

Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, Malian government spokesman, said in a statement on TV that any military intervention in Niger to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum would be considered a "declaration of war" against their two countries.

The decision to evacuate comes amid a deepening crisis sparked by the coup last week against Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

The evacuation began on Tuesday for French and European citizens who wish to leave. It is estimated that several hundred French citizens are in Niger at the moment.

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.

A former French military official who is now training the Nigerien army as a civilian, said: “My job is not finished, I hope the situation will finish and one day soon we can come back."

They added: “This happened very quickly and no one saw this coming. I was really surprised.”

The West African regional body known as ECOWAS announced travel and economic sanctions against Niger on Sunday and said it would use force if the coup leaders do not reinstate Mr Bazoum within one week. Mr Bazoum's government was one of the West's last democratic partners against West African extremists.

In a joint statement from Mali and Burkina Faso, their military governments wrote that "any military intervention against Niger will be considered as a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali".

Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, Mali's state minister for territorial administration and decentralisation, read the statement on Malian state TV on Monday evening.

The two countries also denounced ECOWAS economic sanctions as "illegal, illegitimate and inhumane" and refused to apply them.

ECOWAS suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger, as well as freezing Nigerien assets held in regional central banks.

Niger relies heavily on foreign aid, and sanctions could further impoverish its more than 25 million people.

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 terrorist group calling itself Islamic State.

ECOWAS has sanctioned both countries and suspended them from the bloc, but never threatened to use force.

Also on Sunday, Guinea, another country under military rule since 2021, issued a statement in support of Niger's junta and urged ECOWAS to "come to its senses".

Thousands of pro-junta supporters took to the streets in Niamey on Sunday in anticipation of the ECOWAS statement, denouncing France, waving Russian flags along with signs reading "down with France", supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and telling the international community to stay away.

There has been no clear explanation of the Russian symbols, but the country seems to symbolise anti-Western feelings for the demonstrators.