Niger: France, Benin and Ivory Coast blamed for airport attack
Niger’s military junta leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, has accused France, Benin and the Ivory Coast of supporting armed groups that attacked an Air Force base, as reported by Africa News via AP on January 30th.
The attack occurred at the airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey, on January 29th; four soldiers were wounded, and an aircraft was damaged. According to state television, Nigerien forces responded quickly, killing 20 of the attackers and arresting 11 others.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on January 30th, in a statement to the group’s propaganda wing, Amaq News Agency. The group claimed it was a “surprise and coordinated attack” that inflicted heavy losses.
On the evening of January 29th, Tchiani spoke to state television, where he accused the presidents of France, Benin and the Ivory Coast of supporting the attack.
He said, “We remind the sponsors of those mercenaries, who are Emmanuel Macron [France], Patrice Talon [Benin] and Alassane Ouattara [Ivory Coast], we have sufficiently heard them bark, and they should now, in turn, be prepared to hear us roar.”
Tchiani provided no evidence to support these allegations; Niger, Benin and the Ivory Coast are former French colonies that, until recently, had a French military presence.
Niger and its allies, Mali and Burkina Faso, are all controlled by military juntas that have previously accused Benin and the Ivory Coast of acting as France’s proxies due to their continued ties to Paris.
The three countries are founding members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a cooperation pact designed to counter jihadist insurgencies in the landlocked Sahel region through shared military and intelligence resources.
All three nations have cut ties with France and Western powers and aligned with Russia for security and strategic partnerships, with Niger expelling French troops in 2023.
Niger has also expelled aid organisations, such as the Red Cross, as part of a broader rejection of Western institutions, with Interior Minister General Mohamed Toumba accusing the groups of supporting terrorism.
In recent years, the Sahel region has become a global centre for Islamist terrorism, with jihadist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State actively trying to take control of the region.
Amid the rise in jihadist violence, the African Union called for cooperation between Sahel states in April 2025; Benin accused Niger and Burkina Faso of not cooperating in the fight against terrorism, while the former was accused of harbouring foreign military bases to destabilise the latter two countries.
Africa News via AP, Maghrebi.org
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