Dozens of soldiers killed or arrested after an apparent mutiny in Niger’s capital, state TV reports

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Dozens of soldiers were killed or arrested after a group of young troops attempted a mutiny in Niger’s capital in what was seen as a major threat to the country’s ruling junta, according to a state television broadcast and analysts.

It was the culmination of nearly 24 hours of unrest that appeared to be staged by young soldiers aggrieved over the worsening militant violence under the country’s military junta. Russia’s Africa Corps provided aerial and ground support to local forces to resist the rebellion, according to analysts and diplomats.

State broadcaster RTN showed footage of dozens of mostly young soldiers being paraded in public after sustained gunfire and explosions were heard overnight into Saturday at a key military base located within Niamey’s main airport and near the presidential palace.

“The fighting lasted a few hours in several places, which allowed (security forces) to gradually control the situation, arrest and incapacitate these moody soldiers,” state TV reported.

The whereabouts of military leader Abdourahamane Tchiani were unclear.

Senior Nigerien military officers visited the Africa Corps base at the airport “and expressed gratitude to its servicemen for their assistance in suppressing the rebellion,” Russian media quoted Moscow’s Ambassador to Niger Viktor Voropayev as saying.

The rebelling soldiers had camped at the military base until late Saturday while the presidential guard secured the presidential palace and was deployed to regain control of the base, analysts and diplomats said.

The loyalist forces have regained the “upper hand at least at the airport (and base),” according to Wassim Nasr, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center. Some forces were, however, heading to the capital and it remained unclear if they were coming to support the mutiny or the junta, Nasr added.

The Associated Press could not independently confirm whether the Nigerien security forces regained full control of the base.

Unrest started with a hostage situation

Some of the mutinous soldiers came from the southwest of the country, among the regions worst-hit by insecurity, diplomats and analysts said.

The state broadcaster stopped its live transmission for some time on Saturday morning before it resumed. It broadcast a statement from Niger’s Defense Minister Gen. Salifou Mody saying a group of soldiers took some officers hostage at the base and shot at “sensitive sites” in a “break with the discipline and military regulations.”

The airport is a strategic hub that hosts a Nigerien air force base as well as the headquarters of the joint Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali military force. All three neighbors are now under military rule, following a string of coups in Africa’s Sahel region, but are struggling with insecurity.

Niger’s junta came to power after a 2023 coup which it said was prompted by the elected government’s inability to stem armed violence. Since then, the impoverished West African country of more than 25 million people has severed ties with longtime Western security partners, turning instead to Russia. But the junta has been unable to stem militant violence and rampant killing of security forces, fueling unrest within the military, observers say.

The ruling military council, known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, called for unity. “Our Defense and Security Forces are mobilized for the Defense of the Fatherland. Let us remain united, vigilant and supportive,” it said in a Facebook post.

Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the country has assured Niger, its southeastern neighbor, of its “full solidarity and firm support, with a view to overcoming this ordeal and promoting a rapid return to stability.”

Niger’s military junta has struggled to stem violence, fueling unrest

It is the third time this year that the base at the Diori Hamani International Airport has been attacked, after two earlier assaults by jihadi rebels.

The attacks are “becoming commonplace and will continue to fuel unrest and aggravate tensions within the army ranks,” said Heni Nsaibia, West Africa senior analyst at Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a conflict monitor.

“Deteriorating insecurity drove the coups that swept across the central Sahel, and the latest events show how these same pressures are now fueling unrest within the militaries that seized power,” Nsaibia said.

The mutiny adds to pressure on the military authorities, which have been unable to contain deadly jihadi violence.

Before the 2023 coup, Niger had been the West’s last reliable partner in the region in battling jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in the Sahel.

However, the country’s security forces, aided by Russia’s Africa Corps, have been overstretched on multiple fronts by jihadi groups whose repeated attacks in the last year have resulted in mass casualties within the military.