Africa-Press. Niger’s head of the military council, Abdourahamane Tiani, accused the leaders of France, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire of sponsoring the attack on Niamey International Airport.
Gunfire and explosions were heard near Niamey International Airport shortly before midnight, in what two security sources described as a “terrorist attack,” before calm returned to the capital on Thursday morning.
In a statement broadcast on the state radio station “Voice of the Sahel,” Tiani named French President Emmanuel Macron, Beninese President Patrice Talon, and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, accusing them directly and vowing retaliation.
He added: “We remind the financiers of these mercenaries… We have heard their cries enough; they too must prepare to listen to us,” referring to worsening relations between Sahel countries and their neighbors, whom they regard as “French proxies” in the region.
Niger’s state television said one of the attackers killed was a French national, and video footage showed several bloodstained bodies on the ground.
A Reuters witness said businesses and schools were open in the city of about 1.5 million people, and that residents were moving freely—except for a cordoned-off area near the airport, which was under heavy patrol by defense and security forces.
Two security sources described the nighttime incident to Reuters as a “terrorist attack,” adding that security had been reinforced around the airport.
