Niger’s airport suffers another attack for the second time this year
Residents in Niamey, Niger's capital, reported hearing steady gunshots near the city's international airport early Thursday morning.
Black News 
Residents in Niamey, Niger's capital, reported hearing steady gunshots near the city's international airport early Thursday morning.
- Residents of Niamey, Niger, reported hearing gunshots and explosions near the international airport early Thursday morning.
- The disturbances began around 6:00 a.m. local time and lasted for nearly an hour, originating from near the airport's main gate.
- Niger is currently governed by a military-led administration following dissatisfaction over the handling of a long-standing Islamist insurgency.
- Earlier this year, a suspected terrorist attack on the same airport resulted in 24 casualties and 11 arrests after a joint force intervention.
The gunfire apparently began at 6:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), with witnesses also reporting explosions in the neighborhood. According to accounts, the disruption lasted nearly an hour.
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Two eyewitnesses informed media outlets that the shooting appeared to come from near the airport's main gate, as seen on the BBC.
The incident occurred as Niger continues to deal with a long-running Islamist insurgency that has afflicted the country for more than a decade.
Niger, like neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, is now controlled by a military-led administration that took power after rising popular dissatisfaction with the authorities' inability to handle escalating instability.
Earlier this year, alleged terrorist combatants were linked to an attack on the same airport.
Attack on Niger’s airport earlier this year
Late in January, suspected terrorists attacked Niger's International Airport, located outside Niamey.
According to the country's defense ministry, the attack led to 24 casualties, four of whom were security agents, and the rest from the assailant's camp.
The assault, which lasted around 30 minutes, ended in 11 arrests as a joint force of Nigerien and Russian security personnel launched an air and ground operation against the attackers.
While the motive for the assault was not determined, certain reports linked it to a uranium stockpile close to the attack area.
The airport is located near an air force installation where uranium from the French business Orano SA's mine was held earlier this month.
General Abdourahamane, the country's head of state, applauded Russia's efforts while accusing Benin, the Ivory Coast, and France of involvement in the assault.
![Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani. [Bloomberg]](https://ocdn.eu/pulscms/MDA_/8bd51b13ec82fbd4fb0bbb32f4c49497.jpg)
"We commend all the defence and security forces... as well as Russian partners who defended their security sector with professionalism," General Abdourahamane said via a radio broadcast at the time.
