Europeans start Niger evacuation amid coup as U.S. urges diplomacy

France and other European nations said Tuesday that they were sending planes to Niger to evacuate their citizens and called on them to gather at the international airport in Niamey, the capital, as tensions rose following last week’s apparent coup.

The United States, while urging Americans there to avoid “unnecessary movements” and pay attention to embassy safety alerts, said that “we don’t have any indications of direct threats to U.S. citizens or to our facilities” and that there was “no change to our posture at this time.”

“But again, we’re monitoring it literally by the hour,” White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters, and if the situation changes “I’m sure we’ll have more to say about that.” He said the Biden administration had urged Nigerien authorities to help facilitate the European evacuation flights.

Military mutiny in Niger comes after string of coups across region

France sent evacuation emails to its citizens after its embassy in Niamey was attacked over the weekend and protesters took to the streets, some of them waving Russian flags. The French Foreign Ministry, which estimates there are several hundred French citizens in Niger, a former French colony, said it would also help other Europeans leave the country. Germany, Italy and Spain have indicated their nationals should leave.

Kirby said that, despite reports that Russia’s Wagner Group was somehow involved in fomenting the apparent coup attempt, “there’s no indication that Russia was behind this” or was “materially supporting it in any way or responsible for what’s happening.”

African nations threaten military intervention in Niger after coup

The upheaval began last week when Niger’s presidential guard detained elected President Mohamed Bazoum and declared guard leader Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani the country’s new leader. Since then, the State Department and the Pentagon have made intensive efforts to convince the leaders of Niger’s armed forces and neighboring countries to pressure the self-proclaimed ruling junta to stand down and reinstall Bazoum.

The United States has two military bases inside the country and about 1,000 troops “there for counterterrorism purposes and partnership building capacity” with Niger’s military forces. “There’s no decision to use them in any way to support evacuation efforts by other countries,” Kirby said. “And there have been no decisions made about pre-positioning any additional [U.S.] forces in or nearby Niger for that purpose … If we have to make adjustments, we’ll make adjustments. We’re just not there yet.”

He also declined to speculate over whether a group of West African nations who last weekend threatened to use force in Niger if the civilian government were not restored would do so. “I’ll let them speak to what their plans are.”

“We still believe that there’s a window here for diplomacy and that’s what we’re focused on,” Kirby said.