The French army has begun withdrawing from Niger, following the coup that ousted a pro-Paris president. The operation is expected to conclude by year-end.
The French army said Tuesday it had begun withdrawing its 1,400-strong French contingent from Niger after being ordered out of the country by the leaders of a coup that ousted a pro-Paris president.
The move kicks off a complex and sensitive process that Paris expects to be completed by the end of the year, drawing the curtain on another French anti-jihadist operation in Africa.
A French defense source said the first group of soldiers that were considered priority for evacuation for health or humanitarian reasons flew out of Niger on Monday.
Niger had spoken of convoys of troops being escorted out of the country overland by the Nigerien army, without saying where they would go.
The withdrawal was expected to cause logistical headaches for the French, with few safe routes out of a region plagued by myriad jihadist groups.
Around 1,000 French troops were stationed in the capital Niamey, with another 400 deployed at two forward bases in the north-west, near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, a hotbed of insurgent activity.
It is the fourth time in under two years that French troops have been sent packing by a former African colony, dealing a severe blow to France’s influence on the continent and to its prestige on the international stage.
Katrine Dige Houmøller, with AFP
