A coordinated assault targeted Niger’s principal airport on Thursday morning, marking the second such incident this year.
Residents near the airport in Niamey, the capital, reported hearing gunfire that started around 5 or 6 a.m. and continued for roughly half an hour before security forces sealed off the perimeter.
The defense minister announced on state television that 11 soldiers, two civilians and 22 insurgents had been killed, and that around 20 suspects were taken into custody.
The January assault was carried out by a Sahel‑based Islamic State affiliate, while the latest incident was claimed by Al Qaeda’s regional wing, Jama’at Nasr al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM), on its social‑media platforms.
For years Niger has contended with Islamist insurgencies. Once relatively shielded from the violence plaguing its rural zones, Niamey now finds itself on the front line of these intensified attacks.
Abdulkarim Habibou, a 35‑year‑old primary‑school teacher, said he was returning from morning prayers at a mosque when gunfire erupted nearby. He and his family hid in their bedroom until the shooting ceased. “Hearing shots like that, we were really scared,” Mr. Habibou said.
Abdoulaye Mamane, a taxi driver who lives about half a mile from the airport, awoke his wife and children when gunfire broke out. Terrified, they began to cry. “This is the second attack like this,” Mr. Mamane said. “I don’t want anything to happen to my family. We’ll have to leave the neighborhood.”
A crowd later gathered to show support for the government, some brandishing knives and other weapons. In December, Military President Abdourahamane Tiani issued a national decree urging citizens to respond to any call to defend the country.
Mr. Tiani and fellow officers overthrew Niger’s government in a 2023 coup and have kept the former president in detention ever since. The junta’s promise to restore order has been undermined by a surge in insurgent violence.
A parallel crisis is unfolding in neighboring Mali, also led by a military junta. In April, a coalition of jihadists and rebels launched coordinated assaults, seizing a key city and killing the defense minister—a severe setback for the regime’s claim of strength.
In January, Islamic State’s Sahel branch carried out a significant strike on Niamey airport, home to most of Niger’s military aircraft and drones, according to the International Crisis Group and foreign military sources. Mr. Tiani subsequently accused the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of “sponsoring” that assault.
Héni Nsaibia, a researcher with the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, commented that the Thursday attack “appears much smaller in scale than the January assault, and it seems that it failed.”
Saikou Jammeh contributed reporting.
