The French army said Tuesday, October 10, it had begun withdrawing troops from Niger after being ordered out by military junta that ousted the president, an ally to France and the US.
The move starts a complex and fraught process that Paris expects to be completed by the end of the year.
“The first troops have left,” the spokesman for the French chief of staff told AFP, confirming an announcement Monday by Niger’s military leadership, which said the 1,400-strong French contingent would start leaving Tuesday.
A French defence source told the publication that a first group of soldiers considered a priority for evacuation for health or humanitarian reasons flew out of Niger on Monday.
The Nigerien army also announced it was escorting some soldiers out of Nigerien territory, without saying where they would go.
The Nigerien regime said Friday the withdrawal would take place “safely”.
According to security sources, the French military is expected to head towards Chad via more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) of roads and tracks to reach the capital N’Djamena, where French forces in the Sahel command are based.
Before now, around 1,000 French troops were stationed in Niamey, with another 400 deployed at two forward bases in the north-west, near Mali and Burkina Faso.
It is the third time in 18 months that French troops have been sent packing by a former African colony, dealing a severe blow to France’s influence on the continent and prestige on the international stage.
