Photo credit: Leadership Newspaper
Dozens of soldiers were killed or arrested after a group of young troops attempted a mutiny in Niger’s capital in what was seen as a major threat to the country’s junta, according to a state television broadcast and analysts.
The Associated Press reports that it was the culmination of nearly 24 hours of unrest that appeared to be staged by young soldiers aggrieved over the worsening militant violence under the country’s military junta. Russia’s Africa Corps provided aerial and ground support to local forces to resist the rebellion, according to analysts and diplomats.
State broadcaster RTN showed footage of dozens of mostly young soldiers being paraded in public after sustained gunfire and explosions were heard overnight into Saturday at a key military base located within Niamey’s main airport and near the presidential palace.
“The fighting lasted a few hours in several places, which allowed (security forces) to gradually control the situation, arrest and incapacitate the moody soldiers,” state TV reported.
The whereabouts of military leader Abdourahamane Tchiani were unclear.
Senior Nigerien military officers visited the Africa Corps base at the airport “and expressed gratitude to its servicemen for their assistance in suppressing the rebellion,” Russian media quoted Moscow/’s Ambassador to Niger Viktor Voropayev as saying.
The rebelling soldiers had camped at the military base until late Saturday while the presidential guard secured the presidential palace and was deployed to regain control of the base, analysts and diplomats said.
The 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 Centre. Some forces, however, were heading to the capital, and it remained unclear whether they were coming to support the mutiny or the junta, Nasr added.
The Associated Press could not independently confirm whether the Nigerien security forces regained full control of the base.
The ruling military council, known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, called for unity. “Our Defence and Security Forces are mobilized for the Defence of the Fatherland. Let us remain united, vigilant and supportive,” it said in a social media post.
