NIAMEY, Niger — Niger’s ruling junta said on Saturday it had “gradually taken back control” after mutinying soldiers attacked key sites around the capital including the presidential palace, following hours of heavy gunfire that rocked Niamey.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were first heard at around 01:00 near Base 101 at the international airport, with clashes continuing throughout the night in several neighbourhoods of the capital, notably around the presidential palace in the city centre.

“There was an attempt by insurgents from the Nigerien armed forces to enter the presidential palace,” a security source told AFP, adding that “they were pushed back by the presidential guard”.

As the clashes broke out, soldiers blocked access to the presidential palace and national television, with Tele Sahel going off air for just over an hour on Saturday morning before being restored around 10:00 (11:00 SAST).

Junta says situation under control

Niger’s defence minister, General Salifou Mody, in a statement read on state television, said a group of soldiers held some troops hostage at a barracks in Niamey and opened fire at “certain sensitive sites” in the city, without naming them.

“The prompt reaction of the defence and security forces made it possible to contain this heated moment and they gradually took back control of these sites,” he added.

Mody’s statement called on the population to “remain calm and freely go about their business”.

An African diplomat in Niamey said that for now the presidential guard remained loyal to ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani.

“Everything is calm again, we can’t hear any more shooting,” a resident of the Yantala district close to the presidential palace said late Saturday morning.

Residents describe heavy weapons fire

One local resident told AFP that there was “heavy gunfire and explosions” at Base 101 in Niamey, a claim confirmed by several other witnesses.

The first shots were heard at about 01:00 local time and continued until daybreak, according to a video published by a local journalist filming the area around the airport.

Another local resident said he heard “bursts of gunfire” at about 07:00 local time, adding that the weapons heard “are not the kind that terrorists on motorbikes can carry”.

“I went to get credit for my phone. I saw a military vehicle heading towards the base that had to turn back,” he said.

Another resident in the west of Niamey said he heard sporadic small arms fire at about 05:00.

Videos online showed armoured vehicles deployed to reinforce the neighbourhood near the airport.

Previous jihadist attacks on airport

Niamey airport has been targeted twice this year by jihadists, first by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS) in January, then in late June by its rival, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the Sahel branch of Al-Qaeda.

Twenty assailants were killed and four soldiers wounded in the January assault, authorities said at the time.

General Tiani, head of the military regime that emerged from a coup in July 2023, spoke in January of “a flaw in the system” that “enabled the attack”, whose “objective was to destroy all of the air capabilities” of the army.

In June, at least 11 soldiers and two civilians were killed, as well as 22 attackers, according to the defence ministry. Both attacks were repelled by the army.

The jihadist groups not only target civilians and the military but are also struggling for dominance over each other in the Sahel, and especially in Niger.

Regional context

Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta that has struggled to contain jihadist violence flaring in the west African country for around a decade.

The EIS and JNIM are also active in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, allies of Niger that are also ruled by military juntas that seized power in coups.

The three countries quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, turned their backs on traditional Western partners in the fight against jihadist violence, especially France, and sought closer ties with Russia.

Air Force Base 101, located within the international airport complex, is home to the headquarters of Russia’s Africa Corps in Niamey and the command of the unified force of the Alliance of Sahel States, of which Niger is a member with Burkina Faso and Mali.

The site is sensitive. Between December and January, it hosted a large shipment of uranium concentrate, which was held up while awaiting export. No movement of the shipment has been identified since.

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