The military government says it remains in control in Niger Republic after gunfire and explosions rang out across several areas of the capital, Niamey, on Saturday morning.
Key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace, were affected in what officials described as an attack by mutinous soldiers.
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State broadcasting stations were knocked offline early Saturday. However, the military government later issued a statement urging calm, assuring the public that security forces had responded swiftly and quelled the uprising.
In an official statement signed by Defence Minister Salifou Mody, the government confirmed that loyalist forces engaged the mutineers, restoring order across affected locations after widespread public panic.
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Mr Mody urged citizens to remain calm and resume their daily activities, stating that the government retains full control of the situation.
According to residents, mutinous troops blocked access to both the presidential palace and the national television station during the unrest.
The early-morning assault lasted for several hours and involved soldiers originating from the southwestern towns of Ouallam, Téra, and Dosso, local sources reported.
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 Abdourahamane Tiani, a general, 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Tiani’s junta has cut ties with traditional Western partners, deepened military cooperation with Russia, and formally withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) alongside Mali and Burkina Faso.
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