In Niger, the military regime says it is “gradually regaining control” in the face of the mutineers

Shots and explosions were heard on Saturday morning, August 29, in Niamey, the capital of Niger, particularly around military base 101, adjacent to the international airport, and in the administrative zone where the presidential palace is located.

After several hours during which shooting continued to be reported, the military regime in power in Niger claimed to be “gradually regaining control” in the face of mutineers.

In a statement read on public television and signed by the Minister of Defense, General Salifou Mody, the authorities indicated that mutineers “undertook to sequester” soldiers in the military base adjoining Niamey airport and “carried out shooting on certain sensitive sites” in the capital.

“The prompt reaction of the defense and security forces made it possible to contain this mood swing and gradually regain control of these sites,” added General Salifou Mody in the press release.

The authorities also called on the population to “keep calm and freely go about their business”.

“There was an attempt to enter the presidential palace by insurgents from the Nigerien armed forces. They were repelled by the presidential guard. The exchange of fire continues at the palace,” a security source based in West Africa also told AFP earlier.

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“It is clear that for the moment the guard has remained loyal” to General Tiani, said an African diplomat in Niamey. “The situation is completely under the control of the presidential guard,” the Nigerien deputy of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Ibrahim Bana, declared on Facebook.

National television briefly stopped broadcasting on Saturday morning according to testimonies confirmed by France 24. At 9 a.m. (8 a.m. GMT), a black screen replaced Télé Sahel programs, via satellite and online, residents reported. Once the signal was restored around 10 a.m., the channel made no mention of the unrest.

On Saturday morning, access to the presidency and national television was blocked by soldiers who forced motorists to turn around, residents of Niamey said. The area around the large market, usually bustling, was particularly calm.

According to local residents, “heavy gunfire and detonations at base 101” began during the night, around 1 a.m. (00 a.m. GMT). This shooting continued at dawn, according to a video published by a local journalist, filming the airport area.

A resident of the area, contacted by telephone, told AFP that he had witnessed “bursts of gunfire” on Saturday morning, after 7 a.m.

Sensitive military base

Niger is governed by a military regime that came to power in July 2023 through a putsch and the political situation there remains unstable.

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

In January, General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the military regime resulting from a coup d’état in July 2023, spoke of “a flaw in the security system” which had “allowed the attack”, whose “objective was to destroy all the air capabilities” of the army.

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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 (AES) that Niger forms with Burkina Faso and Mali.

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The site is sensitive: between December and January, it hosted a large shipment of uranium concentrate, blocked while waiting to be exported. No movement of this cargo has been identified since.

With AFP, Reuters and AP