Race against time to evacuate 70 Spaniards from the chaos in Niger after the coup

The Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs of Spain have spent a week with their eyes on Niger. That is how long it has been since the military of the presidential government provoked a coup against the president, accusing him of maneuvering so that France would enter what was his former colony.. Since then, both the Operations Command (MAOPS) and the Ministry led by José Manuel Albares have been working against the clock to organize the departure of the 70 Spaniards in Niger.

The situation is complicated, since although the airspace is closed, yesterday commercial flights flew over the country without getting any to land. Now the governments seek agreements with the Nigerien coup leaders to carry out the evacuation of their citizens.

Defense informed early in the afternoon of this Tuesday that the Government was working on the evacuation by air of these citizens. Also that for several days the heads of the Spanish Embassy in Niger have made available to its citizens an email and an emergency telephone number to coordinate this evacuation operation. Thus, both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work from the Operations Command in a coordinated manner to successfully extract those who are trapped in the African country.

At the close of this edition, contacts were continuing, both from Spain with the Nigerien authorities and among the European countries that need to coordinate the evacuation of their citizens. France, Germany and Italy announced publicly and at the same time as Spain that they were proceeding to evacuate their citizens, since all countries have personnel on the ground.

But it is the French who have the most compatriots in Niger, some 600, and those who are most in danger, since the anger of the coup plotters has focused mainly on France.. In fact, the military tried to gain access to that Embassy and even ripped off the entrance plate. Hence, Macron's Executive yesterday organized an inter-ministerial meeting with Foreign and Defense personnel to evacuate its citizens as quickly as possible.

From the Élysée it was decided not to use the A400 plane, the most suitable for this type of operations, and to opt for smaller aircraft and a message was sent to the citizens of the country: “Given the deterioration of the security situation in Niger, and taking advantage of the relative calm in Niamey, an evacuation operation by air from Niamey is being prepared”, as published by Le Figaro. At three in the afternoon, an A330 from its Air Force landed in the capital with a capacity for 268 passengers.