ISIS Claims Deadly Attack on Niger Airport

(MENAFN) Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) has claimed responsibility for a deadly assault on Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger, which also hosts Air Base 101, according to the SITE Intelligence Group and reports citing the group’s Amaq News Agency.

The attack occurred late Wednesday, with calm returning early Thursday. Niger’s Defense Ministry said gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on the air force base for roughly 30 minutes before being repelled. Authorities reported 20 militants killed, 11 arrested, and four Nigerien soldiers injured. Military facilities and civilian aircraft on the tarmac were damaged.

Earlier, Niger’s transitional leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, accused French President Emmanuel Macron, and the leaders of Benin and Ivory Coast, of sponsoring the “mercenaries” and promised retaliation. Benin dismissed the allegations, calling them “not surprising” and noting that even locally, they were largely doubted.

IS described the assault as a “surprise and coordinated attack” causing “significant damage,” without providing further specifics.

The attack comes amid a long-running security crisis in the Sahel. Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have faced repeated attacks from armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and IS over more than a decade. These countries have expelled French counterterrorism forces and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), seeking alternative partnerships—including with Russia—to address the region’s escalating insurgency and instability.

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