Heavy gunfire and explosions broke out early Thursday near the international airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey, before subsiding within hours, residents said.
Videos shared by residents showed streaks of light across the sky accompanied by loud explosions, while other images showed flames rising several meters high and burned vehicles near the scene.
The shooting began shortly after midnight in neighborhoods close to Diori Hamani International Airport, which houses an air force base and is located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the presidential palace, residents said. Calm returned roughly two hours later.
The cause of the gunfire was not immediately clear, and there was no official information on possible casualties. Residents also reported hearing sirens from fire trucks heading toward the airport in the early hours of the morning.
An online activist who supports Niger’s military rulers, Ibrahim Bana, posted a video on Facebook urging residents to take to the streets to “defend the country.”
The airport is Niger’s main international hub and also serves as the headquarters of a joint force established by Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali to fight jihadist groups that have carried out deadly attacks across the region.
Niger has been governed for more than two years by a military junta led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power in a 2023 coup that ousted the country’s elected civilian president. Since then, the junta has expelled French and U.S. forces that had been assisting in counterterrorism operations.
Niger and its neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali, all ruled by military juntas, have formed a regional bloc known as the Alliance of Sahel States and announced plans for a 5,000-strong joint military force.
According to ACLED, a group that tracks conflict-related casualties, jihadist violence killed nearly 2,000 people in Niger in 2025.
The airport has also been the site where a large shipment of uranium with an undisclosed buyer has remained stuck for weeks after leaving northern Niger in late November, adding to sensitivities around the area.