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Sustained heavy gunfire and loud explosions have been heard in Niger near the international airport outside the capital, Niamey.<\/p>\n
Multiple eyewitness accounts and videos showed air defence systems apparently engaging unidentified projectiles in the early hours of Thursday.<\/p>\n
The situation later calmed down, reports say, with an official reportedly saying the situation was now under control, without elaborating.<\/p>\n
It is not clear what caused the blasts, or if there were any casualties. There has been no official statement from the military government.<\/p>\n
The gunfire and blasts began shortly after midnight, according to residents of a neighbourhood near the Diori Hamani International Airport, the AFP news agency reports. They said calm returned after two hours.<\/p>\n
The airport houses an air force base and is located about 10km (six miles) from the presidential palace.<\/p>\n
Niger is led by Abdourahamane Tiani who seized power in a 2023 coup that ousted the country’s elected civilian president.<\/p>\n
Like its neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, the country has been fighting jihadist groups who have carried out deadly attacks across the region.<\/p>\n
It is also a major producer of uranium.<\/p>\n
A huge uranium shipment destined for export has been stuck at the airport amid unresolved legal and diplomatic complications with France after the military government nationalised the country’s uranium mines.<\/p>\n
“The situation is under control. There is no need to worry,” the Anadolu news agency quoted a Foreign Affairs ministry official as saying, without elaborating.<\/p>\n
The official told the agency they were trying to determine whether the gunfire was linked to the uranium shipment.<\/p>\n