Niger’s military says it is regaining control after Niamey mutiny

Strategic sites come under fire

Mutinous soldiers opened fire on sensitive sites across Niger’s capital early Saturday, striking around Diori Hamani International Airport, the adjoining Base 101 military installation and the presidential palace. The Defence Ministry said troops from a Niamey base carried out the hours-long assault, while Defence Minister Salifou Mody said authorities were “gradually regaining control” and urged residents to remain calm.france24 Gunfire began at about 1 a.m., according to a resident, and state radio and television later went off air.bbc

The attackers included soldiers from Ouallam, Tera and Dosso in southwestern Niger, where units have suffered heavy losses fighting Islamic State’s regional affiliate, a security source and researcher Yvan Guichaoua said.thecitizen The presidency appeared secured by loyalist troops by 9 a.m. GMT, but the airport area remained contested and mutineers had taken state television, according to two security sources and a diplomat.thecitizen

Competing accounts cloud the assault

Initial descriptions pointed in different directions. One security source called the attackers “terrorists” who tried to breach the presidency’s perimeter, while later accounts identified them as members of the armed forces.aljazeera +1 Bana Wagana Ibrahim, a Nigerien consultative council member and Alliance of Sahel States lawmaker, said security forces had retaken Base 101, although further gunfire and explosions were reported after his statement.aljazeera

National television resumed broadcasting by late morning. The authorities mobilised defence and security forces, while search operations were launched for attackers who had fled.france24 +1 No official casualty or damage figures were immediately available, and the government had not publicly established a motive.bbc

Pressure mounts on a junta built on security promises

The unrest presents a direct challenge to General Abdourahamane Tiani, who took power in the July 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. His government promised to restore security, broke with Western partners, strengthened ties with Russia and joined Mali and Burkina Faso in the Alliance of Sahel States after leaving the ECOWAS orbit.reuters +1

Base 101 is especially sensitive: it sits inside the airport complex and hosts both Russia’s Africa Corps personnel and the command of the alliance’s unified force.france24 The airport and airbase had already been attacked twice this year, first by Islamic State in the Sahel in January and then by al-Qaeda-linked JNIM in June.aljazeera +1 The latest fighting now raises a different risk for Niger’s rulers — discontent from within the military itself, layered onto an insurgency they have struggled to contain.