FILE -In this image taken from video provided by ORTN, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani makes a statement, July 28, 2023, in Niamey, Niger. (ORTN via AP, File)
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Islamic State extremist group on Friday claimed responsibility for an attack in Niger on an air force base in the capital that wounded four soldiers and damaged an aircraft.
The claim of responsibility was contained in a statement on Amaq News Agency, the group’s propaganda wing, that said it was “a surprise and coordinated attack” that inflicted heavy losses.
State television reported that Niger’s forces responded quickly to the assault early Thursday, killing 20 of the attackers and arresting 11 others,
Niger has struggled to contain deadly jihadi violence that has battered parts of Africa’s Sahel region, where neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali also are run by military juntas.
In 2025, al-Qaida and Islamic State group-backed militants escalated their campaigns in the Sahel, further threatening the stability of the fragile region and of Niger, which was the key security ally of the West in the region until a 2023 military coup.
Videos that appear to be from the scene of the attack captured loud blasts and the sky glowing following explosions that began around midnight and lasted about two hours in the area of Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, the capital of the West African country.
Niamey’s airport is a strategic hub that hosts military bases, the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali Joint Force, and a large uranium stockpile at the center of a dispute with French nuclear company Orano.
West African airline Air Côte d’Ivoire said that one of its aircraft, parked on the tarmac of the Niamey airport, was hit during the exhange of gunfire, resulting in impacts to the aircraft’s fuselage and right wing.
Niger state television reported that one of the assailants killed was a French national, as footage showed several bloodied bodies on the ground. It provided no evidence.
Junta leader accuses France, Benin and Ivory Coast
Niger’s military leader has accused the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of supporting the armed group behind the attack.
“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 told state television late Thursday.
He didn’t provide any evidence to back up his accusation.
Spokespersons for the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since seizing power, Niger’s military rulers — along with those in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — have cut ties with France and other Western powers and turned to Russia for military support to fight insurgencies.
The juntas also regularly accuse the presidents of Benin and Ivory Coast, two West African countries that maintain close relations with France, of acting as proxies for Paris.
Under the military juntas, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have seen a surge in attacks and have become more vulnerable to the armed groups, experts say.
The sophistication and boldness of the airport attack in Niger — including the possible use of drones — suggest that the assailants may have had inside help, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Laessing said Friday that earlier successful attacks elsewhere in the region appear to have increased the groups’ confidence, leading them to target more sensitive and strategically important sites.
By MARK BANCHEREAU
Associated Press
This post was last modified on 01/30/2026 7:04 am