Although clashes subsided later on Saturday, AFP news agency’s regional security source and an African diplomatic source said that rebel forces have entrenched themselves at an airbase near the capital’s airport.
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Niger’s ruling junta announced in a statement broadcast on state television that after several hours of clashes it has “gradually regained control.”
Soon after the clashes began just after midnight, soldiers blocked access to the presidential palace and the national television station Tele Sahel, whose broadcast was interrupted for just over an hour but resumed around 10 a.m. local time (noon Lithuanian time).
“Rebels from the Niger Armed Forces tried to storm the presidential palace,” a security source told AFP, adding that “they were repelled by the presidential guard.”
Niger’s Defense Minister General Salifou Mody issued a statement on state television saying that a group of soldiers in barracks in Niamey took several soldiers hostage and opened fire on “certain important targets” in the city.
The minister did not specify which targets.
“A rapid response from defense and security forces allowed the situation to be controlled and they gradually regained control of these locations,” he added.
S. Mody urged residents in his statement to “remain calm and freely go about their business.”
Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, which has been trying for about a decade to control jihadist violence in this West African country.
“Everything is calm again, no more gunfire,” said a resident of the Jantala district near the presidential palace late Saturday morning.
After the first shots were heard early Saturday morning, the military posted a statement on its social media accounts urging people to remain calm and “not to spread unverified information.”
“Our defense and security forces have been mobilized to defend the homeland,” the military said at the time.
