French soldiers withdrew from their bases in Niger on Tuesday, with the first convoy to be escorted out by the country’s post-coup regime in the “direction of Chad”, authorities in Niamey said. “The troops based in Ouallam have left their base today. These are the operations for the departure of the first ground convoy in the direction of Chad, escorted by our defence and security forces,” Niger’s new rulers, which took power at the end of July, said in a statement on national television.