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Gunfire was reported near the international airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey, on Thursday morning, according to residents, several months after the facility was targeted in a major terrorist attack.
Residents told AFP that the shooting began around 6 a.m. local time near the entrance to Diori Hamani International Airport and continued for at least two hours.
“I heard the first shots around 6 o’clock (0500 GMT). The shooting was coming from the airport entrance and was continuing two hours later,” a resident told AFP by telephone.
No official statement on casualties, damage or the cause of the shooting had been issued at the time of reporting.
The incident comes about five months after an attack on the airport claimed by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS).
The January assault, described as unprecedented for the capital, was repelled by Nigerien security forces with support from Russian fighters allied to the military government.
Until then, jihadist violence in Niger had largely been confined to other regions of the country and had rarely reached the capital.
Following the January attack, authorities demolished thousands of illegally constructed homes in a densely populated neighbourhood near the airport, saying the area had been infiltrated by militants involved in the operation.
Niger, located in the Sahel region of West Africa, has spent more than a decade battling insurgent groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, with attacks continuing to pose a major security challenge despite intensified military operations.
