Gunmen attacked the main airport in Niger’s capital early Thursday, killing 11 soldiers and two civilians in an exchange of fire that also left 22 of the attackers dead, authorities said. Niger’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack in Niamey was foiled and that 20 suspects were arrested, the AP reports. Authorities said a cache of weapons including RPG-7 launchers, AK-47 rifles, and explosives was seized. Witnesses reported gunfire and explosions during the attack, and an AP journalist saw soldiers searching people on the road to the airport in the aftermath of the violence.
Hours later, the National Civil Aviation Agency said the airport was operating normally. The al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin claimed responsibility for the attack. Niger, led by a military junta since a 2023 coup, has struggled to contain deadly jihadi violence that has battered parts of Africa’s Sahel region, including neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali,which are also run by military juntas. It was the second attack at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey this year, after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a similar attack in January that targeted Niger’s drone assets.
The airport is a strategic hub that hosts a Nigerien air force base as well as the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali joint military force. Witnesses told the BBC that armed residents joined the manhunt after the Thursday attack. “The attackers mixed in with the local population, so finding them was not easy,” one resident said. “Civilians picked up machetes and sticks to defend themselves and to strike anyone they did not recognize who came their way.”