Mutinous Soldiers Storm Niger Presidential Palace in Coordinated Assault

Early Saturday, sustained gunfire and explosions echoed across Niger’s capital, targeting areas near the presidential palace and the airport. According to four sources cited by Reuters, this assault was carried out by mutinous soldiers, while a security source informed AFP that the presidential guard was successfully repelling the attackers.

Prior to the palace assault, gunfire and explosions were reported across the capital, Niamey, specifically around a military base adjacent to the airport—an installation that has already faced two attacks from jihadists this year.

The national television service experienced a temporary blackout on Saturday following a night of gunfire and explosions reported by residents. Broadcasts resumed on the main state-owned channel by late morning, though the outlet made no reference to the unrest witnessed by civilians.

Social media posts corroborated the reports, detailing shooting and explosions in the city’s administrative district where the presidential palace and national television station are situated.

Online videos confirmed the deployment of armoured vehicles to bolster security in the neighborhood surrounding the airport.

Rival Jihadist Factions

Niger has been under the governance of a military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tiani since the July 2023 coup. However, the military has struggled to contain the jihadist violence that has plagued the West African nation for nearly a decade.

The Niamey airport was targeted twice this year by jihadist factions: first by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS) in January, and subsequently by their rivals, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the al-Qaeda-affiliated Sahel branch, in late June.

These extremist groups not only target civilians and military personnel but are also engaged in a power struggle for dominance over one another across the Sahel, with Niger being a primary battleground.

During the January attack, authorities reported that twenty assailants were killed and four soldiers were wounded.

The EIS and JNIM are also active in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, both allies of Niger governed by military juntas that seized power through coups.

These three nations withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, distanced themselves from traditional Western partners in counter-jihadist operations—particularly France—and forged closer ties with Russia, albeit without restoring security to the region.

Air Force Base 101, situated within the international airport complex, serves as the headquarters for Niamey’s Russian Africa Corps partners and the command center for the unified force of the Alliance of Sahel States, a coalition of which Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali are members.

The base is a sensitive location. It held a substantial shipment of uranium concentrate between December and January, which remained stranded awaiting export. No movement of this shipment has been identified since.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

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