Al Qaeda-linked militants claim attack on Niger airport that killed 13

NIAMEY, June 18 (Reuters) - West Africa’s al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility on Thursday for an attack on the airport and military airbase in Niger’s capital that the government said killed 11 members of the security forces, highlighting persistent insecurity in the Sahel region.

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Thursday’s attack in Niamey, which witnesses said began at around 6 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and lasted for over two hours, was the second on the airport complex this year, after the region’s Islamic State affiliate, known as Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), targeted the site in January.

The al Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), claimed the latest attack in a statement published via its official media arm, the Az-Zallaqa Foundation.

JNIM is also active in Burkina Faso and Mali, where it staged audacious nationwide attacks in April, hitting the airport in the capital Bamako, killing the defence minister and seizing a string of army bases.

In an earlier statement read on state television, the government said the attack killed 11 members of the security forces and two civilians. The statement said government forces repelled the attack and killed 22 assailants, while about 20 people were arrested and assorted weapons seized.

RIVALRY BETWEEN AL QAEDA AND ISLAMIC STATE BRANCHES

Niger, like its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, has struggled to contain attacks from jihadist groups that have killed thousands and displaced millions across the three countries.

It is increasingly bearing the brunt of a rivalry between JNIM and ISSP, which engaged in their first skirmishes in 2019 and have since ​clashed hundreds of times, resulting in more than 2,100 deaths, according to data from Armed ⁠Conflict Location & Event Data, a conflict monitoring group.

The two groups clashed in Niger for the first time in April.

Thursday’s attack “points to the parallel expansion of JNIM and ISSP, whose longstanding rivalry and competition for regional dominance are likely driving increasingly frequent high-impact attacks against strategic and symbolic targets,” said Heni Nsaibia, senior West Africa analyst for ACLED.

The situation in Niamey appeared mostly calm by midday, with only sporadic gunfire possibly linked to the army’s sweeping operations, a Reuters witness and two residents said, noting that security forces had blocked off the area.

“Everything is under control,” the government said in its statement.

Niger’s civil aviation agency said in a separate statement that normal operations at the airport had resumed.

EXTENT OF DAMAGE TO MILITARY ASSETS UNCLEAR

The Niamey airport and military ​airbase are in the same complex, with the base situated opposite the civilian terminal.

In claiming responsibility for the attack in January, ISSP said it had targeted air command headquarters and drone assets and claimed to have “delivered a direct blow” to Niger’s counterinsurgency operations.

The extent of the damage from Thursday’s attack was not immediately clear.

On Wednesday, militants launched coordinated attacks on Banibangou and Inates military bases located in the western Tillaberi region, security sources said.

One of the security sources put the death toll in Banibangou at 10 with more than 40 injured and said that the military had abandoned its base in Inates.

It was not immediately clear how those attacks may have been linked to the explosions and fighting in Niamey.

(Reporting by Niger newsroom and David Lewis; Additional reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by William Maclean, Aidan Lewis, Ros Russell and Deepa Babington)

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