Security forces engaged armed assailants at Niger’s main airport in Niamey on Thursday, killing 22 of them during an assault that also left 11 soldiers and two civilians dead, officials have reported.
The confrontation unfolded at Diori Hamani International Airport, a facility that houses a civilian terminal and military airbase within the same complex.
Reports indicate that the attack, which occurred shortly after dawn, triggered gunfire and explosions that were heard in surrounding neighbourhoods. Residents described confusion in the early moments, with some initially mistaking the noise for routine disturbances before the intensity of the fighting became clear. Niger authorities later confirmed the casualties after operations at the airport were concluded.
A search operation was subsequently launched to track down assailants who may have escaped during the incident, with reports indicating that several suspects were detained as the response continued.
“The attackers mixed in with the local population, so finding them was not easy. Civilians picked up machetes and sticks to defend themselves and to strike anyone they did not recognise who came their way,” a resident told the BBC.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes less than five months after a similar incident at the facility in January, when 20 assailants were killed and four soldiers wounded. The Islamic State later confirmed responsibility for the attack.
The General Abdourahmane Tiani-led nation continues to face sporadic attacks linked to armed groups operating across the Sahel region, where military governments, including Mali and Burkina Faso, have struggled to contain insurgent violence linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State-affiliated groups.
In April, for instance, armed groups attacked several locations across Mali, including in the capital, Bamako, in an apparent escalation of violence across the country. The attacks, which occurred on the morning of April 25, targeted multiple locations across the country.
As the situation unfolded, media reports highlighted the scale of the violence, particularly in Bamako, where gunfire and explosions were heard near the city’s main airport, an area that also hosts an air force base. Mali’s defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed during the coordinated attacks.
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