On August 30, the military government in Niger announced that it had regained control, after rebel soldiers ignited armed clashes in the capital Niamey, heading towards the presidential palace and disrupting the operation of the national television station, according to AFP.
Niger has been under the control of a military government led by General Abdourahamane Tiani for the past 3 years, in the context that this West African nation is struggling to curb the wave of violence by jihadist groups that has erupted for about a decade now.
After hours of fierce gunfire around some of the most sensitive locations in Niamey, the military government issued a statement on state television, saying it was gradually regaining control.
By the evening of August 29, diplomatic and security sources told AFP that the presidential guard force, with the support of Russian units, had reoccupied Air Force Base 101 - a key location - and killed some rebel soldiers.
Fighting broke out shortly after midnight on August 28, when soldiers blocked the entrance to the presidential palace and the national television station Tele Sahel. The channel stopped broadcasting for more than an hour before resuming operations at around 10 am local time.
There has been an attempt by rebels in the Niger armed forces to enter the presidential palace," a security source told AFP, adding that the presidential guards repelled this group.
Niger's Minister of Defense, General Salifou Mody, told state television that a group of soldiers had taken some soldiers hostage at a barracks in Niamey, and opened fire on "some sensitive locations" in the city, but did not specify where they were. According to him, the army and security forces quickly regained control. He also called on the people to remain calm.
A local resident described to AFP the "fierce gunfire and many explosions" at Base 101 in Niamey - which is considered the headquarters of the military government. This information was confirmed by many other witnesses.
Base 101 is located within the Niamey International Airport, where the headquarters of the Russian African Corps are located in Niamey. This is also the unified force command of the Sahel Alliance (AES), a bloc of which Niger is a member along with Burkina Faso and Mali.
In a statement issued in the evening, the AES bloc said it had become the target of "betrayal from a group of soldiers involved in a destabilizing plot", but this plot was eventually "restrained and neutralized".
Niamey Airport has been targeted twice this year by jihadist groups: the first time by the self-proclaimed Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS) in January, the second time at the end of June by the rival group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) - an al-Qaeda branch in the Sahel.
