According to the Italian defense ministry, an Italian military plane landed near Rome early Wednesday with 99 individuals evacuated from Niger.
According to Italian state media, the passengers evacuated included 36 Italians, 21 Americans, and others from various countries.
The departure comes amid a worsening crisis triggered by last week’s coup against Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
According to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the Italian Embassy in Niger is functioning and is aiding Italians who have elected to remain in Niger.
He greeted the evacuated passengers as they left the plane.
“The priority right now is to guarantee the security of all the Italian citizens,” Tajani said.
Most of the Italians who were evacuated work in humanitarian organizations.
Prior to the evacuation, there were approximately 100 Italian citizens in Niger, in addition to approximately 350 Italian military personnel stationed there.
On Wednesday, many European countries continued to evacuate foreign people from Niger, with a third French military jet likely to depart the city as West Africa’s regional bloc’s defense chiefs gather to discuss last week’s coup.
France, Italy, and Spain all urged evacuations for their citizens and other European nationals, fearing they might become trapped by the coup, which was supported Tuesday by three other West African countries ruled by mutinous soldiers.