France plans to evacuate hundreds of French and European citizens from Niger over the next 24 hours, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“Considering the ongoing coup in Niger and the fact that the situation continues to be worrying, we decided to make sure that the French citizens who want to leave Niger can do so,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told France’s LCI TV, adding that evacuations would be carried out by planes.
She estimated that hundreds of French citizens and hundreds of citizens from other EU countries wanted to be evacuated. The evacuation will start later on Tuesday, she said, adding that she hoped it would be over in the next 24 hours.
Italy also said on Tuesday it would offer a special flight to repatriate its nationals from Niamey, while the Spanish Defense Ministry said that Spanish government is preparing to evacuate more than 70 Spaniards in Niger by air.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
