Niger: The military regime claims to be regaining control in the face of a "mutiny" by mutineers

The military regime in power in Niger claimed on Saturday to be "gradually regaining control" from mutineers who targeted several "sensitive" sites in the capital Niamey, after hours of heavy exchanges of fire, particularly around the airport and the presidential palace.

Niger is ruled by General Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power in a coup in July 2023 and still holds ousted President Mohamed Bazoum captive. The regime has since turned its back on France and moved closer to Russia, among others.

"A group of soldiers in breach of military regulations has undertaken to sequester some of their comrades in the barracks of base 101 in Niamey and to carry out firing on some sensitive sites in the city of Niamey," said the Minister of Defense, General Salifou Mody, in a statement read on public television.

"The prompt reaction of the defense and security forces made it possible to contain this movement of mood and to gradually regain control of these sites," he added, calling on the population to "remain calm and go about their business freely."

On Saturday morning, access to the presidency and national television was blocked by soldiers who were forcing motorists to turn around, according to Niamey residents.

"Everything has become calm again, we can no longer hear any gunfire," said a resident of the Yantala district, close to the presidency, late this morning.

"There was an attempt to enter the presidential palace by insurgents from the Nigerien armed forces. They were repelled by the presidential guard," a security source based in West Africa told AFP earlier in the morning.

"It is clear that for the moment the guard has remained loyal" to General Tiani, confirmed an African diplomat in Niamey.

This is the third time this year that Niamey has experienced exchanges of fire, but in January and June these were jihadist attacks that only targeted the international airport and were repelled within a few hours.

"The situation is totally under the control of the Presidential Guard," said Ibrahim Bana, a Nigerien member of parliament from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), on Facebook.

The public television signal was cut off for just over an hour on Saturday morning, before returning around 10:00 AM (09:00 GMT).

According to local residents, "heavy gunfire and detonations at the military base" adjacent to the airport began during the night, around 01:00 (00:00 GMT) and continued into the morning.

"The walls were shaking"

"We were so scared, it was pulling too hard, I hid under the bed because I was so scared," said a resident of La Poudrière, a neighborhood located a few kilometers from the airport.

"The walls were shaking, my eardrums were ringing," added a resident of the Talladjé district, near the airport.

Niamey airport had been targeted twice this year by jihadists, first by the Islamic State in January, then at the end of June by their rivals from JNIM, Al-Qaeda's Sahelian branch. In June, 11 soldiers and two civilians were killed.

In January, General Abdourahamane Tiani had mentioned "a flaw in the security system" which had "allowed the attack", whose "objective was to destroy all the air capabilities" of the army.

Air Force Base 101, located in the international airport complex, notably houses the headquarters of Niamey's Russian partners, Africa Corps, as well as the headquarters of the unified force of the Alliance of Sahel States that Niger forms with Burkina Faso and Mali.

The site is sensitive: between December and January, it housed a large shipment of uranium concentrate, held up pending export. No movement of this shipment has been detected since.

Niger has been facing jihadist violence since the mid-2010s, like its neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, which it is struggling to contain.

Deadly attacks targeting civilians and military personnel remain recurrent in Niger, particularly in the Tillabéri region, on the border with Mali and Burkina Faso.

The three countries, all governed by juntas, have formed a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), and have turned their backs on France, their former key partner in the fight against jihadism, to move closer to Russia.

The Niamey junta regularly accuses the former colonial power of financing jihadists to destabilize it, which Paris denies.

AFP