Crisis in Niger deepens, France plans evacuation

PARIS, August 1

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France prepared to evacuate hundreds of French and European citizens from Niger on Tuesday, a day after neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso said any outside intervention to restore the ousted government would be seen as a declaration of war. A military junta overthrew Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and his government last Wednesday in the seventh military takeover in less than three years in West and Central Africa.

West African regional bloc ECOWAS last Sunday threatened to use force to reinstate Bazoum if the soldiers didn’t do it within a week, while neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso – also ruled by military juntas – said they would come to Niger’s defence.

The recent coups in the region have come amid a wave of anti-French sentiment. — Reuters