France and Italy are evacuating hundreds of their citizens from Niger amid ongoing unrest following last week's coup. Forty Germans have also left Niger so far on flights organized by France.
Ednews reports that the first French evacuation flight out of Niger arrived in Paris early on Wednesday morning.
France sent three planes to Niamey to evacuate French and European citizens in the wake of a coup last week that toppled pro-Western leader Mohamed Bazoum.
According to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, the first flight with over 260 individuals left the capital, Niamey late on Tuesday.
"Considering the ongoing coup in Niger and the fact that the situation continues to be worrying, we decided to make sure that the French citizens who want to leave Niger can do so," Colonna said.
France is expected to operate more evacuation flights on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people were gathered at Niamey airport Wednesday morning hoping to catch an evacuation flight, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reported.
The Foreign Ministry said that most of the passengers were French citizens, and that there were also citizens of Niger, Portugal, Belgium, Ethiopia and Lebanon on board.