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France has begun the evacuation of its citizens from Niger amid anti-French sentiment following last week’s coup as 262 people arrived in Paris early on Wednesday.

Recall that the coup prompted demonstrations against the former colonial power, with the French embassy coming under attack.

However, the announcement comes in response to attacks on the French embassy and an ongoing airspace closure, which left French nationals unable to leave independently.

According to a statement released by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs read: “Given the situation in Niamey, the violence that took place against our embassy the day before yesterday and the closure of airspace which leaves our compatriots without the possibility of leaving the country by their own means, France is preparing the evacuation of its nationals and European nationals wishing to leave the country.”

In response to the unrest, France has abruptly suspended all development aid and budget support to Niger, urging an immediate return to constitutional order under President Mohamed Bazoum.

The fate of the 1,500 French soldiers stationed in Niger, however, remains unaddressed.

Many Nigeriens, particularly supporters of the recent coup, are protesting against French influence, seen in attacks on the French embassy and public expressions of anti-France sentiment.

Some protesters waved Russian flags, though it’s unclear whether Russia has any involvement in the situation. This pattern has been observed in other recent coups in West.

AFP journalists reported that hundreds of supporters of the Niger coup came out for a large demonstration in the country’s capital, Niamey, on Thursday. Some of them were waving enormous Russian flags.

On the day of the nation’s 1960 independence from France, the demonstrators gathered at Independence Square in the city center in response to a demand made by a coalition of civil society organisations.

One of the protesters, Issiaka Hamadou, declared that “only security interests us,” regardless of whether assistance comes from “Russia, China, Turkey, if they want to help us.”

“We just don’t want the French, who have been looting us since 1960 – they’ve been there ever since and nothing has changed,” he said.

France has some 1,500 troops in Niger in a bid to fight against jihadism in the Sahel.

“I have no job after studying in this country, because of the regime (of Bazoum), which is supported by France,” said one student who only gave his first name Oumar. “All that has to go!”

Alarms about a jihadist insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012, spread to Niger and Burkina Faso three years later, and now threatens the frontiers of vulnerable states on the Gulf of Guinea have been raised by the coup in Western nations that are trying to control it.

Supporters of the Nigerunta claim that Russia would be a better partner and that France has failed to protect them from the terrorists.