Niger: A shooting at Niamey International Airport in Niger, West Africa, has killed 13 people. Twenty-two armed attackers were also killed in the attack and about 20 suspects have been arrested, the Defense Ministry said.
The Al Qaeda terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the airport and military airbase in the Niger capital.
The shooting began at 6 am on Thursday in Niamey and lasted for more than two hours, witnesses said. This is the second attack at the airport this year.
Jamaat Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen, an al Qaeda affiliate, issued a statement through its official media arm, Az Jallaqa Foundation. JNIM is also active in Burkina Faso and Mali, where it carried out nationwide attacks in April, attacking the capital Bamako’s airport, killing the defense minister and seizing several military bases.
The attack killed 11 members of the security forces and two civilians. Government forces repelled the attack, killing 22 attackers. About 20 people were arrested, and various types of weapons were seized.
Niger, like its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, is struggling to contain attacks by jihadist groups that have killed thousands and displaced millions in three countries. A witness told Reuters that the situation in Niamey appeared largely calm by midday.
Niger’s civil aviation authority said in a separate statement that normal operations at the airport had resumed. The extent of damage to military assets was not clear.
Niamey airport and the military airbase are in the same complex, with the base opposite the civilian terminal. ISSP, which claimed responsibility for the attack in January, said it targeted the air command headquarters and drone assets and dealt a direct blow to Niger’s counter-insurgency operations. The extent of the damage caused by Thursday’s attack was not immediately clear.