Gunshots and loud explosions of yet to be ascertained source were heard late on Wednesday night around the Niamey International Airport in Niger Republic.
Local sources told Zagazola Makama that the airport area was the scene of violence, with heavy detonations and sustained gunfire reported in the vicinity.
According to the sources, calm has since returned to the area, but the identity of the attackers remains unknown.
“No official casualty figure has been released as at the time of filing this report,” a source said.
Niger, a country hit regularly by jihadist attacks, has been led for more than two years by Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of a junta that overthrew the country’s elected civilian president in 2023.
France24 reports that the shooting began shortly after midnight, according to residents of a neighbourhood near the airport.
Calm returned two hours later, they said.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
The sound of sirens from fire trucks heading towards the airport could also be heard in the early hours of the morning, according to local residents.
An online activist who supports the military rule, Ibrahim Bana, posted a video on Facebook in which he called on people to turn out on the streets of the capital to “defend the country“.
The country’s largest international airport is also the headquarters of a joint force created by Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali to combat jihadist groups waging deadly violence in the region.