Gunfire broke out near Niger’s main international airport in the capital, Niamey, early this morning according to residents, raising fresh security concerns months after the facility was targeted in a major jihadist assault.
Witnesses said shooting began shortly after dawn around the entrance to Diori Hamani International Airport and continued for several hours.
“I heard the first shots around 6 o’clock. The shooting was coming from the airport entrance,” one resident told journalists by telephone. The witness said the gunfire was still ongoing nearly two hours later.
A second resident also confirmed hearing sustained gunfire in the area surrounding the airport.
There has been no immediate statement from Niger’s authorities on the cause of the shooting or whether there were any casualties.
The incident comes months after Diori Hamani International Airport was the target of an unprecedented attack claimed by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS). Nigerien security forces, supported by Russian fighters allied to the military government, said they successfully repelled that assault.
The attack marked a significant escalation in insecurity, bringing jihadist violence directly to the capital after years in which attacks were largely concentrated in other regions of the country.
In the aftermath of the earlier assault, authorities demolished thousands of illegally constructed homes in a densely populated neighbourhood near the airport. Officials said the area had been infiltrated by militants who used it to help facilitate the attack.
Niger, located in the heart of the Sahel region, has spent more than a decade battling insurgent groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The country remains one of several West African nations facing persistent security threats from armed extremist organisations operating across the region.
Further details about the shooting were not immediately available.
