Niger’s ruling military government said Saturday it had “gradually” regained control of the capital after a group of mutinying soldiers took comrades hostage at a military base and opened fire on several locations across the city, including near the presidential palace.
Defense Minister General Salifou Mody said in a statement read on state television that a group of soldiers, in a “break with discipline and military regulations,” took some of their colleagues hostage at Base 101, a barracks adjacent to Niamey’s Diori Hamani International Airport, before firing on what authorities described only as “sensitive sites” in the city.
Security sources told AFP that insurgents from within the armed forces also attempted to enter the presidential palace but were repelled by the presidential guard. Sustained gunfire and explosions were reported overnight and into Saturday morning across several areas of the capital, including near the airport and the Plateau district, where the palace and national television headquarters are located.
State broadcaster Tele Sahel went off air for roughly an hour before resuming transmission around 10:00 a.m. local time. Authorities closed a major road leading into Niamey and urged residents to remain calm, avoid spreading unverified information, and go about their business as usual.
Mody said the “prompt reaction” of defense and security forces allowed the government to contain the mutiny and gradually retake the affected sites. By Saturday afternoon, witnesses and analysts described the situation in the capital as calmer but still tense.
Niger has been ruled by a military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tiani since a 2023 coup. The government has severed longstanding security ties with Western partners in favor of closer cooperation with Russia, but has struggled to contain jihadist violence that has persisted in the country for roughly a decade — unrest that observers say has contributed to friction within the ranks of the armed forces.
