Members of Niger’s presidential guard, helped by Russian forces on Saturday, recaptured a key military base in the capital Niamey from mutinous soldiers.
Diplomatic and security sources revealed this to AFP.
“The presidential guard has retaken control of the air base with the help of the Russians,” said a diplomatic source.
The source added that several of the rebelling soldiers had been killed. Two security sources confirmed that the base had been retaken.
Confirming the latest developments, Niger’s ruling junta said it was back in control after the mutinous soldiers set off armed clashes in Niger’s capital Saturday, moving on the presidential palace and disrupting the state broadcaster.
Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tiani that has struggled to contain jihadist violence flaring in the west African country for around a decade.
After hours of heavy exchanges around some of its most sensitive sites, the junta said it had largely wrested back control from the rebel soldiers.
The fighting appeared to have subsided later Saturday, even if a regional security source and an African diplomatic source said the rebelling troops still held two barracks around Niamey.
But by Saturday evening, diplomatic and security sources told AFP that members of Niger’s presidential guard helped by Russian forces had recaptured the air base, killing some of the mutineers.
When fighting broke out, shortly after midnight, soldiers blocked access to the presidential palace and the national television station, Tele Sahel, which went off the air for just over an hour, before being restored around 10 a.m.
Niger’s ruling junta later declared, in a statement read on state television, that it was gradually taking back control after hours of clashes.
“There was an attempt by insurgents from the Nigerien armed forces to enter the presidential palace,” a security source told AFP, adding that the presidential guard had pushed them back.
Niger’s defence minister, General Salifou Mody, said on state television that a group of soldiers had held some troops hostage at a barracks in Niamey, opening fire at “certain sensitive sites” in the city, without specifying which ones.
Troops and security forces had quickly taken back control, he added, calling on local people to remain calm.
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