French troops will start leaving Niger this week

By the end of the year, Paris expects all soldiers stationed there to return to France.

Following a deterioration in ties brought on by the recent coup in the African nation, Paris said on Thursday that it will start the evacuation of troops from Niger this week.

This manoeuvre must be coordinated with the Nigerien army in order to be successful. In a statement published on X (formerly Twitter), the ministry said that every arrangement had been made to guarantee that movements occur in safety and good order.

The action was taken in response to Sylvain Itte, France’s ambassador to Niger, being removed from the country by its new military authorities.

The soldiers of Nigerien deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26. The French ambassador’s diplomatic immunity was stripped in August when the coup leaders insisted that he leave and Paris refused.

Prior to that, in reaction to public unhappiness with the decade-long anti-insurgency operations in the Sahel region, the new Nigerien leadership had cancelled a number of military cooperation agreements with France and requested that troops leave the country.

The new military government, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, is unconstitutional, and Itte’s ejection was a “provocation.”

However, Macron stated last month that as soon as the envoy returns to Paris, France would halt its military collaboration with the new Nigerien authorities. “By the end of the year,” he added, French forces will depart Niamey.

The decision to start the departure of soldiers from the uranium-rich African nation was made on Thursday, according to the French army command, which cited a “repatriation” order from the president as justification.

This week sees the start of the soldiers and military equipment leaving Niger. By year’s end, all soldiers should be able to return to France thanks to this action, according to the army.

In Niger, France has about 1,500 soldiers on duty. It also had military presences in Mali and Burkina Faso, two former colonies, although those operations were discontinued as a result of coups in both nations. One of the biggest French military bases in the Sahel is in Niger, and after the evacuation is over, the only French military force in the area will be a group of about 1,000 soldiers in Chad.