Niger Army Quells Barracks Mutiny in Niamey, Dozens Detained

Dozens of soldiers were killed or arrested in Niger's capital, Niamey, following an apparent mutiny by a group of young troops, according to state television broadcasts and analysts. The unrest, which lasted nearly 24 hours, was seen as a significant challenge to the ruling junta.

The incident unfolded overnight into Saturday with sustained gunfire and explosions heard at a key military base located within Niamey's main airport, near the presidential palace. State broadcaster RTN aired footage of dozens of mostly young soldiers being paraded publicly after the violence.

Analysts and diplomats said the mutiny was staged by young soldiers frustrated with the worsening militant violence under the country's military junta. Some of the mutinous soldiers reportedly came from the southwest, among the regions hardest hit by insecurity.

Russia's Africa Corps provided aerial and ground support to local forces to resist the rebellion, according to analysts and diplomats. Senior Nigerien military officers visited the Africa Corps base at the airport and expressed gratitude for assistance in suppressing the rebellion, Russian media quoted Moscow's Ambassador to Niger Viktor Voropayev as saying.

The rebelling soldiers had camped at the base until late Saturday, while the presidential guard secured the presidential palace and was deployed to regain control. Loyalist forces have regained the "upper hand at least at the airport (and base)," according to Wassim Nasr, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center. However, some forces were heading to the capital, and it remained unclear if they were coming to support the mutiny or the junta.

Niger's Defense Minister Gen. Salifou Mody said a group of soldiers took some officers hostage at the base and shot at "sensitive sites" in a "break with the discipline and military regulations." The whereabouts of military leader Abdourahamane Tchiani were unclear.

The airport is a strategic hub hosting a Nigerien air force base and the headquarters of the joint Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali military force. All three neighbors are under military rule following a string of coups in Africa's Sahel region but continue to struggle with insecurity.

Niger's junta came to power after a 2023 coup, which it said was prompted by the elected government's inability to stem armed violence. Since then, the country has severed ties with Western security partners and turned to Russia, but has been unable to stem militant violence and rampant killings of security forces, fueling unrest within the military, observers say.

The ruling military council, known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, called for unity, stating in a Facebook post: "Our Defense and Security Forces are mobilized for the Defense of the Fatherland. Let us remain united, vigilant and supportive."