NIAMEY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Mutinous soldiers in Niger attacked the airport and the presidency in the capital, Niamey, early on Saturday, triggering hours of gunfire and explosions and briefly knocking state television and radio off air.
By late morning, Niger's defence ministry said the armed forces were gradually retaking sites seized in the overnight attack, but security sources said mutineers were still at the airport in the afternoon and the overall situation remained unclear.
The attack marked
the latest threat to the rule of Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power in a 2023 coup. Tiani had pledged to improve security in the Sahel nation, a major uranium producer, but jihadist attacks have persisted.
State television, after resuming broadcasts, aired a message saying mutinous soldiers from a base in Niamey had opened fire on "sensitive sites" in the city.
Security forces had reacted quickly and "contained this disturbance", it said.
Earlier this year, affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State both carried out attacks on the civilian airport and military airbase, leading some security observers to initially suspect militants were behind Saturday's assault.
Even if Tiani survives the mutiny, the unrest raises the prospect that resources otherwise spent fighting jihadists will need to go towards policing internal threats, said Heni Nsaibia, senior analyst for West Africa of Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).
"The jihadist groups will be the only winners in this situation," he said.
TROOPS JOINING MUTINY FROM OUTSIDE CAPITAL
A Reuters witness reported gunfire at the airport and military airbase, where Russian and Italian forces are stationed, and heavy explosions in the pre-dawn hours.
As of 0900 GMT, the presidential palace appeared to have been secured by loyalist troops but the area around the airport was still contested, two security sources and a diplomat said.
The defence ministry statement referred to an effort by the mutineers "to detain some of their comrades" at the military airbase, without providing details.
Two sources said that loyalist troops had been dispatched to retake control of the airport, either through negotiations or by force.
The assault also involved soldiers from the localities of Ouallam, Tera and Dosso in the southwest, according to a Niger security source and Yvan Guichaoua, senior researcher at the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies.
Troops in this area have sustained heavy casualties in battles with the regional Islamic State affiliate, and analysts and security sources say frustration with the government is mounting within frontline units.
"Just a week ago, some 18 soldiers were killed in an attack on their position in the southern Dosso region. These mass-casualty overrun attacks on the Nigerien military are becoming commonplace and will continue to fuel unrest and aggravate tensions within the army ranks," Nsaibia said.
It was not clear how many troops allied with the mutineers had entered Niamey or where they had deployed.
BATTLING MILITANTS, CONTROLLING URANIUM
Niger, a mineral-rich West African nation with significant uranium, oil and gold resources, has been ruled by military officers since the July 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
Like its neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, it has failed to turn the tide in its battle against Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State despite pledges by military rulers to improve security.
West Africa's al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for an attack on the airport in Niamey in June, five months after Islamic State Sahel Province targeted the same site.
Since seizing power, Tiani's government has shifted away from Western partners, deepened ties with Russia and broken with the regional ECOWAS bloc, joining Mali and Burkina Faso to form the breakaway AES bloc.
The unrest comes as authorities tighten control over the uranium sector, having seized assets from France's Orano. Niger had been a key supplier of nuclear fuel to Europe, accounting for about 15% of Orano's uranium supply at full capacity.
Last week, the government reallocated former Orano and GoviEx uranium permits to state-backed companies, according to a decree.
(Reporting by Niger Newsroom and David Lewis. Additional reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet. Writing by Bate Felix, Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Robbie Corey-Boulet. Editing by Stephen Coates, Ros Russell and Mark Potter)
