Niger’s security apparatus has begun a search for the attackers who attacked the airport of the capital, Niamey, on Thursday, killing at least 11 soldiers and two civilians.
The group, linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed the airport attack that also left twenty-two of them killed in the process in a raid at the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey.
**”**A large-scale operation by the defence and security forces to track down and neutralise the remaining elements is underway. Niamey’s Diori Hamani International Airport, which is fully secure, remains open to air traffic,” a military statement read.
Gunfire erupted early in the morning and rang out for hours near the airport, where a large military presence was later deployed, residents said.
In the evening, a brief statement from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, or JNIM using its Arabic acronym, said it had carried out “a suicide attack” on the airport and on a neighbouring military base.
Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta, which has struggled to contain jihadist violence that has rocked the West African country for a decade.
“I heard the first shots around 6 o’clock (0500 GMT). The shooting was coming from the airport entrance,” where there is a security checkpoint, a resident told AFP by telephone.
An airport source said the gunmen had arrived at the checkpoint “by taxi”, then encountered “fierce resistance” from security forces.
The attackers — some of whom wore explosive belts, according to the defence ministry — were “dispersed in the surrounding neighbourhoods, where the security forces are carrying out vast sweeps”, the airport source said.
Another resident, a motorbike-taxi driver, said locals were helping the security forces, “hunting down bandits with sticks and machetes”.
In a statement read out on TV, the defence ministry said four people had been wounded in the attack and “about 20 suspects” arrested.
It said a large-scale army operation was underway and the “international airport, which is fully secure, remains open to air traffic”.
But tracking site Flightradar24 indicated multiple flights bound for Niamey had been rerouted or delayed.
