Mutinous soldiers attack airport, presidency in Niger’s capital

Mutinous soldiers attacked the airport and the presidency in Niger’s capital, Niamey, in the early hours of Saturday, unleashing hours of sustained gunfire and explosions that briefly knocked state television and radio off the air.

By late morning, Niger’s defence ministry said the armed forces were progressively retaking control of the sites targeted in the overnight assault, though security sources said mutineers remained present at the airport and the overall situation was still unclear.

State television, after resuming broadcasts, aired a message saying soldiers from a base in Niamey had opened fire on “sensitive sites” in the city, but that security forces had reacted quickly and contained the disturbance.

The attack marked the latest threat to the rule of Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power in a 2023 coup and had pledged to improve security in the Sahel nation, even as jihadist attacks have persisted.

The assault also drew in soldiers from Ouallam, Tera and Dosso in the southwest, according to a Niger security source and Yvan Guichaoua, a senior researcher at the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies; troops in that region have suffered heavy casualties fighting the local Islamic State affiliate, and analysts say frustration with the government has been mounting within frontline units.

Earlier this year, affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State had separately attacked the civilian airport and a military airbase, which initially fed suspicion that militants rather than mutineers could be behind Saturday’s assault.

As of mid-morning, the presidential palace appeared to have been secured by loyalist troops, but state television had briefly fallen to the mutineers and the area around the airport remained contested, according to security sources and a diplomat.

Loyalist troops had been dispatched to retake the airport, either through negotiations or by force.

Niger, a mineral-rich West African nation with significant uranium, oil and gold resources, has faced repeated instability since the 2023 coup, and the latest unrest underscores the fragility of Tiani’s grip on power amid persistent jihadist violence and reported discontent within the ranks of the security forces.