Gunfire was reported early Thursday near the international airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, according to local residents, several months after the facility was targeted in a major jihadist attack.
A resident told AFP by telephone that the first shots were heard around 6:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), adding that the gunfire appeared to be coming from the entrance of the airport and continued for several hours.
Another resident also confirmed that the shooting was taking place near the airport entrance.
The incident comes months after Diori Hamani International Airport was targeted in an unprecedented attack in January. The assault was later claimed by the Islamic State in the Sahel (EIS) and was repelled by Nigerien security forces alongside Russian allied fighters.
Before that attack, jihadist-related violence had largely been confined to other regions of the country.
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In the aftermath of the January assault, authorities demolished thousands of illegally constructed homes in a large settlement near the airport.
Officials stated that jihadist elements had infiltrated the area and used it to facilitate the attack.
Niger, a vast Sahel nation in West Africa, has spent more than a decade battling insurgent groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Source: AFP
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