Eleven Nigerien security personnel laid down their lives defending the Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital, Niamey, from an attack by what the defence ministry described as “armed mercenaries in the pay of Emmanuel Macron’s France.” It is the second such attack on the airport in less than five months.
Two civilians were also killed in the attack that started at 6 am on 18 June, when the attackers stormed the entrance in light vehicles.
“However, the swift response of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) neutralised the attackers before they reached the airport terminal,” said the defence minister, Salifou Modi, in a televised statement later that day.
Along with two taxis and a van used in the attack, the security forces also seized several hand grenades, RPG launchers, AK47 rifles, M80 machine guns, and three belts with hundreds of cartridges, VHF handheld radios, and mobile phones.
After about two hours of battle, they killed 22 attackers and arrested about 20 suspects. Adding that “a large-scale operation … aimed at tracking down and neutralising the remaining elements is underway,” the defence ministry said, however, that the airport itself “is fully secure and remains open to air traffic.”
The Al-Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility. The same group is also at war with the state of Mali, which overthrew the French puppet government, expelled French troops in 2022, and severed diplomatic ties with the former coloniser against whom mass protests were raging in the country.
Burkina Faso followed suit, overthrowing the French-backed government in 2022 and expelling French troops in early 2023. Later that July, when the government propped up by France in Niger was also ousted, the French government initially refused to withdraw its troops and threatened to front a war by other regional countries that remained in its neocolonial grouping, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
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