Niger's Military Leader Blames France and Neighbors for Airport Attack

Accusations and Responses

NIAMEY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Niger's military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani on Thursday blamed French, Benin and Ivory Coast presidents for sponsoring the attack on Niamey international airport, an accusation he made without offering any evidence.

Gunfire and loud explosions echoed around Niger's international airport in Niamey shortly before midnight in what two security sources described as a "terrorist attack", before calm returned to the capital on Thursday morning. 

Details of the Attack

Tiani accused French President Emmanuel Macron, Benin's Patrice Talon, and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara by name, while speaking on Niger's state television after visiting the air base. He vowed retaliation.

"We have heard them bark, they should be ready to hear us roar," he said, signalling further worsening of relationship between the Sahel nation, its neighbours he sees as French proxies in the region, and former colonial power.

The offices of the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast could not be immediately reached for comment.

Tiani also thanked the Russian troops stationed at the base for "defending their sector."

Since seizing power, the military rulers in Niamey, like the military rulers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, have cut ties with western powers and turned to Moscow for military support to tackle the insurgencies.

Niger state television reported that one of the several assailants killed was a French national, as footage showed several bloodied bodies on the ground. It provided no evidence.

URANIUM

Businesses and schools were open in the city of about 1.5 million, and people were moving about freely, apart from a cordoned-off zone near the airport which was heavily patrolled by defence and security forces, the Reuters witness said.

Impact on Aviation

Two security sources described the overnight incident to Reuters as a "terrorist attack" and said security had been reinforced around the airport following an internal alert about an imminent attack on the site.

They said a store of uranium currently held at the airport had not been affected by the attack.

Nigerien authorities moved the uranium yellowcake late last year from the Somair mine in Arlit to the Niamey base for export after seizing control of the mine from French nuclear group Orano, according to two other sources, who estimated it to be around 1,000 metric tons of uranium.

Two more sources confirmed that the uranium was still at the airport at the time of the incident Wednesday night. Yellowcake, or uranium oxide concentrate, is a powdered form of uranium which can be processed to make fuel for nuclear power production.

AIRCRAFT DAMAGED DURING ATTACK

Pan-African carrier ASKY Airlines said two of its aircraft sustained minor damage during the incident while parked on the tarmac, while Ivory Coast's national airline Air Cote d'Ivoire said an Airbus A319 was hit, damaging its fuselage and right wing.

Both companies said no passengers or crew were injured as the incident occurred outside operational hours.

An assessment was under way for the Airbus and the jet could be grounded for an extended period, potentially disrupting schedules, Air Cote d'Ivoire said in a statement.

The heavy gunfire began shortly before midnight on Wednesday and continued for over an hour, the Reuters witness said.

A video shared on social media platform X appeared to show the city's night skyline illuminated by gunfire, though Reuters has not independently verified the footage.

Regional Security Concerns

The West African nation, like its Sahel neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, has struggled to contain attacks from jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have killed thousands and displaced millions in the three nations.

(Reporting by Niamey Newsroom; Writing by Bate Felix, Portia Crowe and Ayen Deng Bior; Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Editing by Chris Reese, William Maclean and Diane Craft)