French uranium miner Orano said on Friday it had evacuated expatriate staff from northern Niger after being warned of a threat in the jihadist-troubled region. Orano’s expatriate personnel and other foreign workers on temporary assignment living in a compound at Akokan near Arlit “were evacuated under escort and flown to Niamey,” Niger’s capital, it said. According to Air Info, an Agadez-based media outlet that covers northern Niger, dozens of armed men travelling on motorbike were seen near the village of Inanbagaret on Thursday. Orano is the successor to France’s state-run Areva, which has had uranium mining interests in Niger for decades. In 2010, seven Areva employees — five French nationals, a Togolese and a Madagascan — were kidnapped at Arlit by armed men.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 17, 2023 00:02 UTC