Niger’s military government has said it remains in control after gunfire and explosions were reported across several parts of the capital, Niamey, on Saturday morning.
The unrest affected key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace, in what officials described as an attack by mutinous soldiers.
State broadcasting stations were knocked offline early on Saturday, but the military government later issued a statement urging calm and assuring the public that security forces had responded swiftly and quelled the uprising.
According to a report from Premium Times, an official statement signed by Defence Minister Salifou Mody confirmed that loyalist forces engaged the mutineers and restored order across the affected locations after widespread public panic.
Mr Mody urged citizens to remain calm and resume their daily activities, stating that the government retains full control of the situation.
Residents reported that mutinous troops blocked access to both the presidential palace and the national television station during the unrest.
Local sources said the early-morning assault lasted for several hours and involved soldiers from the southwestern towns of Ouallam, Téra, and Dosso.
Witnesses noted that the mutineers targeted the presidential palace, the national television station, and Military Airbase 101, sparking widespread speculation of an attempted coup.
The attack poses a challenge to the authority of General Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power in a July 2023 coup that ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
Although Mr Tiani pledged to restore stability to the Sahelian nation, jihadist insurgencies have persisted.
Earlier this year, Premium Times reported how affiliates of both Al-Qaeda and ISIS carried out attacks targeting Niamey’s civilian airport and adjacent military airbase.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Al-Qaeda’s West African branch, claimed responsibility for a June attack on the airport, coming just five months after Islamic State Sahel Province targeted the same facility.
Niger—a mineral-rich country possessing vast deposits of uranium, oil, and gold—continues to struggle alongside neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali against entrenched Islamist insurgencies.
Since taking power, Mr Tiani’s junta has cut ties with traditional Western partners, deepened military cooperation with Russia, and formally withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) alongside Mali and Burkina Faso.
Source: allAfrica.com