Niger’s ruling junta said Saturday it “gradually took back control” after mutinying soldiers attacked key sites around the capital including the presidential palace, after the city was rocked by hours of heavy gunfire.
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 am (0900 GMT).
“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”.
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”.
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.
An African diplomat in Niamey said that for now the presidential guard was still 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.
Gunfire began in the early hours of Saturday morning, prompting the military to issue a statement on its social media pages urging people to stay calm and “avoid sharing unverified information”.
“Our defence and security forces have been mobilised for the defence of the homeland,” the statement said.
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 1:00 am 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 7:00 am 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 5:00 am.
Videos online showed armoured vehicles deployed to reinforce the neighbourhood near the airport.
– Rival jihadist groups –
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.
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.
Twenty assailants were killed and four soldiers wounded in the January assault, authorities said at the time.
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 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.
