Evacuation of French citizens from Niger may start very soon

France will ‘very soon’ start to evacuate its nationals from Niger, where a coup last week has unleashed anti-French protests, Paris’s embassy in Niamey said, Report informs referring to AFP.

“In the face of a degrading security situation in Niamey, and taking advantage of the relative calm in Niamey, an operation of evacuation by air from Niamey is being prepared,” said a message sent out by the embassy to French citizens, adding that the evacuations ‘will take place very soon in a very limited span of time.’

Niger's junta on July 31 accused France of seeking to "intervene militarily" to reinstate Bazoum, which French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna denied. "It's wrong," Colonna told France's BFM news channel of the allegation, adding it was still "possible" to return the president to power. "And it's necessary because destabilization is perilous for Niger and its neighbors," she said.

Colonna said the demonstration held in front of the French embassy Niamey had been "organized, not spontaneous, violent, extremely dangerous, with Molotov cocktails, Russian flags appeared, anti-French slogans (that were) an exact copy of what you can hear elsewhere".

Niger became the third Sahel country in less than three years, following neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, to be shaken by a military coup, when President Mohamed Bazoum was toppled last week by elite troops from his own Presidential Guard.