France begins pulling out its troops from Niger after junta’s order

France has begun pulling out its troops from Niger after being ordered out of the West African nation by the military junta that ousted the pro-Paris president in a July coup, the military said Tuesday (10 October).
“The first troops have left,” the spokesman of the French chief of staff said, confirming an earlier announcement by Niger’s army, which said that the 1,400-strong French contingent would begin leaving shortly, escorted by Niger forces. A French defense source said a first group of soldiers that were considered priority for evacuation for health or humanitarian reasons had already flown out of Niger on Monday (9 October). French President Emmanuel Macron, who had initially resisted demands by Niger’s coup leaders to withdraw his troops and ambassador to Niamey, finally agreed in September to pull out the troops “by the end of the year”, complying with the coup leaders’ demand.
The French troops were deployed in Niger as part of a wider fight against jihadists across the Sahel region. But they have been living with uncertainty since the military junta began demanding their departure, with irregular supplies of food and amid rising anti-French sentiment in the West African nation. Niger is the fourth African country — coming after Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso — in under two years where French troops have suffered the humiliation of being forced out of a former African colony. The French troops will now gradually exit the nation, marking the end of a significant chapter in Franco-Niger relations.