Niger’s military government accused the presidents of France, Benin, and Ivory Coast of backing armed groups that launched a brazen attack on a capital city airbase early Thursday, leaving four soldiers wounded and one aircraft damaged.
State television reported that Nigerien forces responded swiftly, killing 20 assailants and arresting 11 others.
“We remind the sponsors of those mercenaries, who are Emmanuel Macron (president of France), Patrice Talon (president of Benin) and Alassane Ouattara (president of Ivory Coast), we have sufficiently heard them bark, and they should now in turn be prepared to hear us roar,” Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani said on state TV late Thursday. He did not provide evidence for the accusations.
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The assault began around midnight near Niamey’s Diori Hamani International Airport. Videos appearing to be from the scene show bright flashes in the sky and loud explosions that continued for nearly two hours.
The airport is a key strategic site, hosting military facilities, the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali Joint Force, and a large uranium stockpile at the center of a dispute with French nuclear firm Orano.
Air Côte d’Ivoire revealed that one of its planes parked on the tarmac was struck by gunfire, sustaining damage to its fuselage and right wing.
Nigerien state television also claimed that a French national was among the attackers killed, showing footage of several bloodied bodies. No armed group has claimed responsibility for the strike, the AP reported.
Niger faces ongoing jihadi violence that has destabilized much of the Sahel, where neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali are also governed by military juntas.
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In 2025, al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked militants intensified attacks across the Sahel, further threatening the fragile security of Niger, which had been a key Western ally until the military seized power in 2023.
Since the coup, Niger’s junta, alongside counterparts in Mali and Burkina Faso, has cut ties with France and other Western nations, turning instead to Russia for support against insurgents.
The juntas frequently accuse the presidents of Benin and Ivory Coast, close partners of France, of acting on Paris’s behalf. Experts say these shifts have left Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso more exposed to armed groups, driving a surge in attacks across the region.
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