The Ministry of Defense in Niger announced, on Saturday, that a group of soldiers opened fire at a sensitive military base, then headed towards the presidential palace before they were repelled, in what appears to be a rebellion that turned into something like a “coup attempt,” in a country that has been ruled by the army since 2023 and faces great security risks due to attacks by the terrorist organizations “Al-Qaeda” and “ISIS.”
The ministry said in a statement signed by Defense Minister Lieutenant General Salifu Modi: “A group of soldiers breaking discipline and military regulations detained some of their comrades inside Base 101 in Niamey and opened fire on some sensitive sites in the capital.”
The ministry added in the statement broadcast on state television that “the rapid response of the defense and security forces made it possible to contain this movement and gradually regain control over those sites,” before calling on citizens to “be calm and go about their daily work freely.”
Diplomatic and security sources told Agence France-Presse that members of the Presidential Guard, with Russian support, recovered a strategic military base in the capital, Niamey, after the rebels took control of it earlier in the day.
A diplomatic source in Niamey said, “The Presidential Guard regained control of the air base with the help of the Russians.” There were deaths among the rebels.” Two security sources confirmed that control of the base had been restored.
From the base to the palace
The attack began around one o'clock after midnight on Friday/Saturday local time (that is, at midnight Greenwich Mean Time), and the sounds of gunfire and violent explosions were initially concentrated around Diori Hamani International Airport, where Military Base 101 is located, which is a strategic air facility that includes army aircraft and the headquarters of the joint force of the Sahel countries (Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso), and Russian and European forces are also stationed there.
The armed confrontations continued for more than seven hours, during which intense and continuous gunfire was heard near the presidential palace, while a security source told Reuters that the perpetrators of the attack tried to penetrate the security cordon surrounding the presidential headquarters, and eyewitnesses confirmed that the exchange of fire was intense and continuous around the palace.
Agence France-Presse quoted a security source as saying that the presidential guard succeeded in repelling “rebels from the armed forces” who attempted to “storm the presidential palace” in Niamey. Despite this, gunfire continued to be heard for several hours, in the vicinity of the palace and several neighborhoods of the capital.
A night of terror
With the arrival of the morning, the national television broadcast was interrupted for a little more than an hour, and showed a black screen at about eight o’clock in the morning local time (9:00 GMT), before broadcasting returned at about ten o’clock local time, and immediately after the television returned to work, the Ministry of Defense’s statement was broadcast, which announced that the situation was under control.
The “National Council for the Defense of the Homeland,” a military council that has ruled Niger since the 2023 coup, had published, at about seven in the morning, on its social media pages, an announcement addressed to citizens in which it said that “our defense and security forces are on alert to defend the homeland,” and added that “in the face of current events, we must maintain our calm and avoid spreading unconfirmed information... to remain united, vigilant, and in solidarity.”
Meanwhile, soldiers closed the roads leading to the presidential headquarters and national television, and forced motorists to return to where they came from, according to what residents in Niamey reported, and videos were published showing armored vehicles deployed in neighborhoods near the airport.
A resident of the Yantala neighborhood near the presidential palace said in the late morning: “Everything has returned to calm, and we no longer hear gunfire,” while a security source said that some of the attackers were “neutralized” while others fled, and confirmed that the security forces had begun combing operations.
The confrontations were violent, according to what witnesses confirmed. A resident of the “La Boudriere” neighborhood, which is a few kilometers from the airport, said: “We felt very afraid. There was a lot of shooting. I hid under the bed out of fear.” A resident of the Talagi neighborhood near the airport added: “The walls were shaking, and my ears were ringing.”
The President's Guard is resolved
Earlier in the morning, a security source told Agence France-Presse: “There was an attempt to storm the presidential palace by rebels from the Nigerian Armed Forces. They were repelled by the presidential guard.”
An African diplomat in Niamey confirmed that “it is clear so far that the Guard has remained loyal” to General Tiani. Bana Wajana Ibrahim, a member of the Niger Advisory Bureau and a representative in the Parliament of the Sahel Alliance, wrote on Facebook that “the attackers targeted Base 101, but the defense and security forces regained control of it.”
“The situation is under the complete control of the presidential guard,” said Abdel Rahman Omar, a former presidential election candidate and former member of Niger’s parliament.
Tension within the army
The new rebellion revealed the existence of a rift within the Nigerian Armed Forces, which resulted in violent confrontations between military formations, especially between the army and the Presidential Guard, which reports directly to General Abdurrahman Tiani. Sources indicate that this tension began due to heavy losses recently incurred by the army in the face of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, which prompted some soldiers to engage in a protest movement that developed into an armed rebellion, some of whose leaders are still holed up in Military Base 101, near the airport.
Military sources confirmed that the Presidential Guard, which is believed to be acting on orders from General Abderrahmane Tiani, is studying the possibility of militarily intervening against the soldiers and officers who led the rebellion and are present in the airport area.
Sources fear that the situation will develop from a “mutiny” of angry soldiers to a split within the military establishment, and confrontations between the army and the presidential guard, especially since there are reports of army units moving towards the capital, Niamey, coming from internal states.
Armed groups in Nigeria obtained about 6 million US dollars in one year, in the form of ransom for the release of victims of mass kidnappings in large areas of the north and center of the most densely populated country in Africa.
This was stated in a study conducted by the consulting company “SBM Intelligence”, based in the city of Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria. It confirmed that terrorist and criminal organizations obtained about $6 million in ransoms during the period between July 2025 and June 2026.
The company said in the study published on Wednesday that the amount represents more than three times the amount recorded during the same period of the previous year, confirming that two kidnappings attributed to the “Boko Haram” group alone generated more than $5.2 million in ransom money, which represents about 90 percent of the total amount paid during the period covered by the report.
Ransom economy
Hamadi Jallow, an expert on armed groups in West Africa and the Sahel, said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that proceeds from mass kidnapping and the ransoms being paid have become a significant proportion of the financing of armed groups in Nigeria.
Gallo explained, “These amounts contribute to financing the activities of armed groups. “It enables it to recruit new members, and to pay salaries to kidnappers, coordinators, and local mediators,” pointing out that all armed organizations in Nigeria practice mass kidnapping, including the terrorist group “Boko Haram” and the “ISIS in West Africa,” in addition to organized crime networks and bandits.
He continued that the fact that one of the Boko Haram branches received 90 percent of the ransom proceeds was “not surprising” due to its experience and long history in the region, noting that most of this money “was spent on acquiring weapons and financing expenses related to transportation, communications, coordination, and sometimes bribes.”
Continuing crime
The consulting firm SBM Intelligence said that “kidnapping is no longer just a criminal industry, but has become a financing mechanism for groups that threaten the stability of the state,” and the company proposed “cutting off the financial flows that finance the insurgency, and addressing the economic desperation that fuels recruitment.”
For his part, Kennedy Giwa, one of the company's security analysts, confirmed to the Associated Press: “Every ransom paid in one kidnapping incident generates another kidnapping incident,” then he added that “Nigeria is not winning the war.” There are about 21 kidnapping incidents every day.”
Indeed, the law in Nigeria makes it a crime to pay ransom to kidnappers; Last April, the Senate approved an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Law in order to add articles preventing the payment of ransom and combating money laundering networks used by terrorist organizations.
“No choice but to pay”
But that did not prevent the ransom from being paid; The law remained ink on paper, as described by experts and analysts.
In this context, Hammadi Jallow says, “Most of these ransoms are paid by families, and sometimes by civil organizations, because the state does not provide an alternative and cannot return the kidnapped people, and therefore the only option for families remains to pay.”
Jallow explained, “The kidnappers are camping out in mountains and forests that are difficult to reach, and we know that there is a lot of land in Nigeria outside the state’s military control, even though the administration and civil state exist there.” But it is difficult for the army to stay in these areas because of the attacks they have been subjected to.”
Gallo points out that there are demands to quote other successful experiences, such as what happened in Somalia and Colombia, but he points out that “Nigeria faces the problem of widespread corruption in the security and military system, and therefore individuals in the army and intelligence are sometimes accused of colluding with the kidnappers.”
Authorities in Niger said on Saturday that a group of soldiers rebelled against officers inside a major military base, as the group opened fire on “sensitive” sites in the capital, Niamey, in what appeared to be an attempted rebellion that resulted in an exchange of fire and explosions.
Gunshots and explosions were heard overnight and into Saturday morning in the city, including at the main airport, which houses the military “Base 101,” and in the Plateau administrative region, where the presidential palace and major institutions are located.
Defense Minister General Salivu Modi said there had been a “breach of military discipline and regulations.” He added that the soldiers tried to rebel against the officers at the base and opened fire on “sensitive sites” before the authorities regained control of the situation.
Security forces were deployed around the airport and in the Plateau administrative region, coinciding with the closure of a main road leading to the capital, Niamey. State television stopped its live broadcast for several hours on Saturday morning, before resuming it without mentioning the attack.
Earlier today, four sources reported to Reuters that continuous shooting and explosions had occurred in several areas of Niamey.
The attack represents the latest threat to the rule of Abderrahmane Tiani, who seized power in a coup in 2023. Tiani had pledged to improve security in the Sahel country, a major uranium producer, but militant attacks have continued. Al-Qaeda and ISIS branches carried out attacks on the civilian airport and the military air base earlier this year.
A Nigerian security source and Ivan Gishawa, a senior researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies, said that the attack, which occurred in the early hours of the morning, lasted several hours, and soldiers from the Walam, Tira, and Dosso regions in the southwest participated in it.
The forces in this region suffered heavy casualties in battles with the regional branch of ISIS.
An official denounces the “cowardly attack”
A security source told Reuters that “terrorists” attacked Diori Hamani International Airport in the city and attempted to penetrate the security cordon surrounding the presidential headquarters. One of the Reuters witnesses said that heavy gunfire was heard in the area near the presidential headquarters.
Bana Wajana Ibrahim, a member of the Bureau of the Advisory Council in Niger and a representative in the Parliament of the Sahel Alliance, reported on Facebook that the attackers targeted the military air base known as Base 101, but the security forces regained control of it.
Ibrahim wrote: “Another cowardly attack on Base 101, and once again our defense and security forces were able to bring the situation under control.”
But one of the Reuters witnesses said that gunfire renewed at the airport, and strong explosions occurred in the hours before dawn after Ibrahim published his post.
By 09:00 GMT, pro-government forces appeared to have secured the presidential palace, but state television had fallen into rebel hands, and the area surrounding the airport remained contested, according to two security sources and a diplomat.
Reuters was unable to independently verify these accounts. The government spokesman has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Niger is a major uranium producer
Niger is a mineral-rich country in West Africa, possessing large resources of uranium, oil, and gold. It has been ruled by military personnel since the July 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
Like its neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger has failed to curb the waves of armed rebellion linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, despite pledges by military rulers to improve security conditions.
Al-Qaeda's branch in West Africa claimed responsibility for an attack on Niamey airport in June, five months after ISIS in the Greater Sahara targeted the same site.
Since the Tiane-led government seized power, Niger has distanced itself from its Western partners, strengthened its relations with Russia, withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and joined Mali and Burkina Faso to form a separate Sahel coalition.
These disturbances come at a time when the authorities in Niger are tightening their control over the uranium sector, after they seized the assets of the French company “Urano”.
Niger was a major supplier of nuclear fuel to Europe, as it supplied about 15 percent of the uranium supplies to the “Urano” company when operating at full capacity.
Last week, the government reallocated uranium mining licenses that were previously owned by the companies “Urano” and “JoviX” to state-backed companies, according to a decree.
