A first plane evacuating mainly French people took off Tuesday evening from Niamey and will land “at the beginning of the night” in Paris, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs told AFP, a few days after the military coup in Niger. The aircraft landed at Paris-Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport shortly after 1:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, an airport source told AFP, days after the military coup. in the country.
“There are 262 people on board the plane, which is an Airbus A330, including a dozen babies,” said Catherine Colonna. “Almost all of the passengers are compatriots,” she said, adding that there were “a few European nationals.”
Other passengers, “with more Europeans”, were boarding a second plane. It will take off soon, also from the civilian airport of Niamey, also indicated the head of French diplomacy. “There are 600 French people who have clearly expressed their intention to leave and there are just under 400 Europeans,” she also said. A third flight is scheduled.
“It has been indicated that we want the evacuation operation to be held within 24 hours, if possible, from midday today to midday tomorrow,” the minister finally underlined. “There will be no political reception” it will be “a technical reception” with in particular teams from the crisis center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Red Cross and an association to help find accommodation for those who need it. need.
France has decided to evacuate its nationals from Niger on Tuesday, “given the situation in Niamey”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a press release on Tuesday morning. The Quai d’Orsay justifies this decision by the “violence that took place against our embassy the day before yesterday and the closure of the airspace which leaves our compatriots without the possibility of leaving the country by their own means”.
A coup in Niger, led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum last week. General Tiani justified this putsch by “the deterioration of the security situation” in a country undermined by the violence of jihadist groups. Thousands of pro-coup demonstrators then gathered on Sunday outside the French embassy in Niamey, capital of Niger, before being dispersed by tear gas canisters.
