Niger says soldiers, civilians killed in Niamey airstrike | Military Issues

The Ministry of Defense said that 11 soldiers, 2 civilians and 22 terrorists were killed in the attack on Diori Hamani International Airport.

An attack by gunmen at the airport in Niger’s capital has killed 11 soldiers and two civilians, according to the country’s defense ministry, five months after a major attack.

Twenty-two terrorists were also killed in the attack and around 20 people were arrested, the ministry added in a press statement read out on national television on Thursday.

The army in Niamey fought suspected terrorists around the Diori Hamani International Airport and the military base on Thursday, sources told Al Jazeera earlier in the day.

The source said that militants affiliated with the army launched the attack at around 6:00am (05:00 GMT) local time.

An airport worker who lives near the airport told Al Jazeera that he heard heavy gunfire and saw a large group of soldiers on his way to work and decided to return to safety. A deputy who lives near the airport also said he heard loud gunshots.

A source told the AFP news agency that the terrorists had arrived at a security checkpoint near the airport “in a taxi”, only to be “fiercely rebuffed” by security forces. Gunfire rang out for hours in the area.

A “massive operation” by the military “is underway and the international airport, which has full security, will remain open to passengers,” the defense ministry said.

The situation appeared to be calm at noon (11:00 GMT), with a sporadic fire that may be related to the military sweep, a Reuters witness and two residents said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which the defense ministry said left four people injured, according to preliminary figures.

The airfield and the military base are in the same area, with its location opposite the civilian access point.

ISIL operatives in the region claimed responsibility for the attack in January. Twenty militants were killed and four soldiers were wounded in the attack on January 29, authorities said.

At the time, the group said it was targeting the capital’s aircraft and drone assets and said it had “directly damaged” the country’s anti-terrorist operations in the Sahel.

In recent weeks, authorities have begun demolishing thousands of illegally built buildings near the airport that they say are difficult to deal with “terrorists”.

They said that the towns were infiltrated by armed criminals. The perimeter fence around the airport has been expanded, and more than 350 security cameras have been installed inside and outside the perimeter.

Niamey Airport is one of the country’s most strategic military bases. They have the G5 Sahel “counterterrorism” force, the Russian military and a drone team that is attacking terrorists.

Uranium stocks that Niger wants to sell are also stored at the airport. Any strike on this site could lead to an environmental threat.

Niger, like its Sahel neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, has struggled contains attacks from armed groups linked to ⁠⁠with al-Qaeda and ISIL who have killed thousands and displaced millions in these three countries.