Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on air force base in
Niger's capital
[January 31, 2026]
By MARK BANCHEREAU
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Islamic State extremist group claimed
responsibility on Friday for an attack on an air force base in Niger's
capital that wounded four soldiers and damaged an aircraft.
The claim of responsibility was contained in a statement on Amaq News
Agency, the group's propaganda wing, that said it was “a surprise and
coordinated attack” in Niamey that inflicted heavy losses.
State television reported that Niger's forces responded quickly to the
assault early Thursday, killing 20 of the attackers and arresting 11
others,
The State Department on Friday ordered nonessential embassy staff and
their families to leave Niger due to “security concerns” following the
attack.
Video footage that appeared to be taken at the scene captured loud
blasts and the sky glowing following explosions that began around
midnight and lasted about two hours in the area of Diori Hamani
International Airport.
The military leader of the West African country has accused the
presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of supporting the armed
group behind the attack, without providing any evidence to support the
claim.
“We remind the sponsors of those mercenaries, who are Emmanuel Macron
(president of France), Patrice Talon (president of Benin) and Alassane
Ouattara (president of Ivory Coast), we have sufficiently heard them
bark, and they should now in turn be prepared to hear us roar,” Gen.
Abdourahamane Tchiani told state television late Thursday.
Ivory Coast’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday it summoned
Niger’s ambassador and called the accusation “a serious affront to the
honor and dignity of the head of state, as well as to the Ivorian
people.”
Benin's government spokesman, Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, told local
media the accusations were “not very credible,” adding: “These are
diversions that will not distract us from our priorities.”
The French presidency and foreign ministry did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
Niamey’s airport is a strategic hub that hosts military bases, the
headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali Joint Force, and a large
uranium stockpile at the center of a dispute with French nuclear company
Orano.
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Motorcyclists ride by the entrance of the airport in Niamey, Niger,
Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
West African airline Air Côte d’Ivoire said that one of its
aircraft, parked on the tarmac of the Niamey airport, was hit during
the exchange of gunfire, resulting in impacts to the aircraft’s
fuselage and right wing.
Niger state television reported that one of the assailants killed
was a French national, as footage showed several bloodied bodies on
the ground. It provided no evidence.
Niger has struggled to contain deadly jihadi violence that has
battered parts of Africa’s Sahel region, where neighboring Burkina
Faso and Mali also are run by military juntas.
In 2025, al-Qaida and Islamic State group-backed militants escalated
their campaigns in the Sahel, further threatening the stability of
the fragile region and of Niger, which was the key security ally of
the West in the region until a 2023 military coup.
Since seizing power, Niger’s military rulers — along with those in
neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — have cut ties with France and
other Western powers and turned to Russia for military support to
fight insurgencies.
The juntas also regularly accuse the presidents of Benin and Ivory
Coast, two West African countries that maintain close relations with
France, of acting as proxies for Paris.
Under the military juntas, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have seen a
surge in attacks and have become more vulnerable to the armed
groups, experts say.
The sophistication and boldness of the Niamey attack — including the
possible use of drones — suggest that the assailants may have had
inside help, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at
Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Previous attacks in the region appear to have increased the groups’
confidence, leading them to target more sensitive and strategically
important sites, Laessing said Friday.
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