Residents of Niger Republic’s capital, Niamey, were thrown into panic in the early hours of Thursday after heavy gunfire and a series of explosions erupted near the city’s international airport, which also hosts a key Air Force base.
Witnesses told AFP that the shooting started shortly after midnight around the Diori Hamani International Airport, situated roughly 10 kilometres from the presidential palace.
Videos widely shared on social media captured streaks of light tearing through the night sky amid loud explosions. Other clips showed flames rising several metres high, with vehicles reduced to burnt-out shells.
“We heard loud bursts of gunfire and explosions coming from the direction of the airport,” a resident of a nearby district said. “Then around 2 a.m., everything went quiet again.”
Residents also reported seeing fire trucks, sirens blaring, racing toward the airport shortly after the shooting began.
By Thursday morning, authorities had yet to clarify the cause of the gunfire, and there was no immediate confirmation of casualties.
In a video posted on Facebook, pro-junta activist Ibrahim Bana urged citizens to take to the streets “to defend the country,” although it was unclear whom the appeal was directed against.
The Diori Hamani International Airport serves as a strategic command hub for a joint regional force comprising troops from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, formed to counter jihadist groups operating across the Sahel.
Niger has been under military rule since July 2023, when General Abdourahamane Tiani led a coup that ousted the country’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
Since the takeover, the junta has expelled both French and United States forces that had been deployed to assist in combating insurgent groups.
Instead, the military-led government in Niamey has strengthened political and military ties with neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, both also governed by soldiers, forming the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and announcing plans for a 5,000-strong joint force to tackle regional insecurity.
According to figures from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), nearly 2,000 people were killed in jihadist-related violence across Niger in 2025.
Tensions in recent weeks have also been heightened by reports of a large uranium shipment stranded at the Niamey airport since late November, with its destination and buyer still unknown.
As of press time, Nigerien authorities had not issued any official statement explaining the cause of Thursday’s gunfire and explosions.
