Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on air force base in Niger’s capital

In this image taken from video provided by ORTN, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani makes a statement, July 28, 2023, in Niamey, Niger. (ORTN via AP)

DAKAR, Senegal -- The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility on Friday for an attack on an air force base in Niger’s 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” in Niamey 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,

Video footage that appeared to be taken at the scene 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.

The military leader of the West African country has accused the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of supporting the armed group behind the attack, without providing any evidence to support the claim.

“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.

Ivory Coast’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday it summoned Niger’s ambassador and called the accusation “a serious affront to the honour and dignity of the head of state, as well as to the Ivorian people.”

Benin’s government spokesman, Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji, told local media the accusations were “not very credible,” adding: “These are diversions that will not distract us from our priorities.”

The French presidency and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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 centre of a dispute with French nuclear company Orano.

West African airline Air Cote d’Ivoire said that one of its aircraft, parked on the tarmac of the Niamey airport, was hit during the exchange 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.

Niger has struggled to contain deadly jihadi violence that has battered parts of Africa’s Sahel region, where neighbouring 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.

Since seizing power, Niger’s military rulers -- along with those in neighbouring 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 Niamey attack -- 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.

Previous attacks in the region appear to have increased the groups’ confidence, leading them to target more sensitive and strategically important sites, Laessing said Friday.

By Mark Banchereau