Niger Army Repels 2-Hour Attack at Niamey Airport as Islamist Threat Returns to Capital
Updated
Updated · Africanews English · Jun 18
Niger Army Repels 2-Hour Attack at Niamey Airport as Islamist Threat Returns to Capital
3 articles · Updated · Africanews English · Jun 18
Summary
Gunfire and explosions hit Niamey’s Diori Hamani airport from about 6 a.m. Thursday, and Niger’s army said it repelled the assault after roughly two hours.
Residents told AFP the shooting came from the airport entrance, the same facility targeted in January in an unprecedented attack later claimed by Islamic State in the Sahel.
That January assault wounded four military personnel and left 20 attackers dead, prompting tighter airport security and the demolition of thousands of homes in a nearby district authorities said jihadists had infiltrated.
The latest attack underscores how a decade-old insurgency linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda, once concentrated outside the capital, is again reaching Niamey.