Niger says mutinying soldiers launched coup attempt
Armed men launch attacks on capital Niamey and briefly take over state television station
Soldiers attacked the main international airport in Niger’s capital Niamey, moved on the presidential palace and briefly seized the national broadcaster in the early hours of Saturday, according to witnesses and people familiar with the situation.
The Nigerien government said in a statement that an insurrection had been attempted and one person with contacts inside the military regime that runs Niger said it was an attempted coup by young officers disgruntled with the government of Abdourahamane Tchiani.
“It is young military guys who are sick and tired of Tchiani,” he told the FT. “They’ve taken the airport, they’ve taken control of Turkish drones at the airport, they’ve taken the national TV and the national radio,” he added. “They tried to get to the palace, but they got pushed back.”
A foreign diplomat in Niamey confirmed to the FT that a coup attempt was under way, but said that the government appeared to have been able to re-establish control over areas of downtown Niamey.
Another witness in Niamey, speaking like others on condition of anonymity, said there was an “ongoing coup attempt” with heavy gunfire on Friday night and Saturday morning. “The situation has calmed down in the past two hours,” he said, speaking at midday local time.
The Nigerien national broadcaster ceased transmitting on Saturday morning, but has since resumed. Subsequently, a statement attributed to the minister of defence Salifou Modi was broadcast confirming that mutineers had sought to confine other soldiers to the main barracks in Niamey.
It added that the mutineers had fired on sensitive sites across Niamey and claimed that Nigerien security forces had been able to contain the situation and “gradually regain control of these sites”.
Niger has been run by a military regime since Tchiani led a putsch which overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023. He promised to fight back against threats from Islamists affiliated to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State which have been growing in strength in Niger, as well as in Mali and Burkina Faso, for several years.
Bazoum has been held under house arrest ever since.
The battlefield situation has grown increasingly dire since the coup and the expulsion of French soldiers who had been present in Niger. The airport in Niamey, which hosts a major military base alongside contingents of Italian and Russian soldiers, has twice come under assault from Islamic State this year.
There has been growing frustration among many within the embattled military, said Andrew Lebovich, a research fellow at the Clingendael Institute. There have been sporadic mutinies at barracks across Niger over the past few years, he said.
“There have been tensions among lower-ranking officers over battlefield losses, as well as among senior officers related to some broader geopolitical questions,” Lebovich said. “We do not know for the moment which one is predominant in shaping what is happening now.”
He added that the situation would probably disrupt attempts to fend off the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
Paul Melly, an expert on francophone Africa at Chatham House, said that young officers were disgruntled by the worsening security situation. “The security situation is vastly worse. The young officers, if it is them, would be saying: ‘Three years ago it was getting better, but look at things now’,” he said.
Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also run by military regimes, also face a worsening situation on the battlefield. Malian and Russian forces have been struggling with renewed offensives by JNIM and the FLA, a secessionist ethnic Tuareg militia.
They have also faced dissatisfaction within the ranks of their embattled militaries, but analysts said that the attempted putsch in Niger appeared to be the best organised in recent years.
“This is definitely the most serious internal challenge of the three states in the past few years,” said Lebovich. “It is not going away and it will have ramifications no matter what.”