On the night of Jan. 28, several dozen Islamic State fighters launched a large-scale attack on the international airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, and the adjacent air force facility known as Base 101. The assault and ensuing clashes with the Nigerien army—backed by Russian troops from Africa Corps—lasted about an hour, after which most of the attackers managed to escape on motorcycles.
The human toll of the operation remains unclear. Nigerien authorities say they killed 20 assailants and arrested 11 others, while acknowledging that four of their own soldiers were wounded—figures that have not been independently verified. The Islamic State Sahel Province, or ISSP, has not released its own casualty claims. The group targeted Niger’s air assets, and according to Africa Intelligence, it destroyed one helicopter, three or four planes, and a combat drone. Satellite imagery shows damage to hangars at Base 101 as well as to the civilian airport runway, while two civilian planes parked at the airport were also damaged.
The attack, apparently months in the making, amounted to a show of force by ISSP, which demonstrated its ability to carry out complex, large-scale operations against hard military targets. In contrast, the group’s rival and enemy, al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, is less firmly entrenched in Niger—but more so in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.