Niger's leader says France, Benin, Ivory Coast behind airport attack

Niger's military leader has accused the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of supporting armed groups that attacked an Air Force base in the capital early Thursday, wounding four soldiers and damaging an aircraft.

Nigerien forces responded quickly, killing 20 of the attackers and arresting 11 others, state TV reported.

“We remind the sponsors of those mercenaries, who are Emmanuel Macron (president of France), Patrice Talon (president of Benin) and Alassane Ouattara (president of Ivory Coast), we have sufficiently heard them bark, and they should now in turn be prepared to hear us roar,” Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani told state television late Thursday.

He didn’t provide any evidence to back up his accusation.

Spokespersons for the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since seizing power, Niger’s military rulers — along with those in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — have cut ties with France and other Western powers and turned to Russia for military support to fight insurgencies.

The juntas also regularly accuse the presidents of Benin and Ivory Coast, two West African countries that maintain close relations with France, of acting as proxies for Paris.

Under the military juntas, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have seen a surge in attacks and have become more vulnerable to the armed groups, experts say.

The sophistication and boldness of the airport attack in Niger — including the possible use of drones — suggest that the assailants may have had inside help, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Laessing said Friday that earlier successful attacks elsewhere in the region appear to have increased the groups’ confidence, leading them to target more sensitive and strategically important sites.

Islamic State claims responsibility

The Islamic State group on Friday claimed responsibility for an attack in Niger on an air force base in the capital that wounded four soldiers and damaged an aircraft.

The claim of responsibility was contained in a statement on Amaq News Agency, the group's propaganda wing, that said it was “a surprise and coordinated attack” that inflicted heavy losses.

State television reported that Niger's forces responded quickly to the assault early Thursday, killing 20 of the attackers and arresting 11 others,