Foreign nationals evacuate Niger as regional tensions rise

French nationals gather as they wait to be evacuated at the international Airport in Niamey, Niger (Sam Mednick/AP)

Foreign nationals lined up outside an airport in Niger’s capital waiting for a third evacuation flight on Wednesday as a regional bloc continued talks about its response to the coup that took place last week.

French forces in the capital, Niamey, evacuated hundreds of mostly French nationals to Paris on two flights Tuesday, following concerns that their citizens and other Europeans risked becoming trapped by last week’s military coup, which ousted and detained President Mohamed Bazoum.