Brazen attack on Niger's airport shows jihadis are expanding to cities in Africa's Sahel

DAKAR, Senegal — The gunfire and explosions that ripped through Niger’s main international airport are the latest sign of armed groups increasingly targeting cities and urban centers in Africa’s Sahel region, where they are competing for influence and territories, analysts say.

The al-Qaeda-linked JNIM jihadi group, the most potent in the Sahel region south of the Sahara desert, claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey that killed 11 soldiers and two civilians.

It was the second attack this year at the airport, a strategic hub that serves as the ruling military's command, hosting its air force base and most of its drones and aircraft. It's also the headquarters of the regional alliance that brings together troops from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

A similar attack in January, which was claimed by the Islamic State group's Sahel Province (ISSP), also saw motorcycle-riding gunmen storm the airport facility as they targeted expensive drones. The attacks in Niger, unseen at this scale in recent years, follow a major raid and continuing fuel blockade by al-Qaida inside and around Mali’s capital of Bamako.

Both al-Qaida and Islamic State group-backed militants, rivals for control of the territory in the Sahel with competing goals and strategic aspirations, started escalating their attacks last year as they seek for more influence in what is known to be global hot spot for terrorism.

The recent attacks reflect a changing militant strategy that increasingly includes urban centers alongside remote, poorly policed communities where insurgent groups traditionally operate, said Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, deputy project director for the International Crisis Group, a think tank.

Militant groups turn the Sahel into the Wild West

At the heart of the militant activity are the three neighboring Sahel states of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. They are governed by military juntas that staged coups fueled by resentment toward old Western partners and democratic governments.

The three governments have turned to Russia as a major security ally after turning back from Western allies. French and American forces withdrew, while Russian military personnel moved in.

The attack on Thursday had less significance than the one in January but was important for JNIM and its operations, Ibrahim said. “JNIM in Niger is trying to mark its territory. This is a message to the government but also to IS (Islamic State group),” he added.

Niger’s presence at the intersection of several major conflict zones is also seen as strategic for the groups. It borders Mali and Burkina Faso to the west, where JNIM is strongest, and Nigeria and Chad to the south and east, where Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operate. To the north, it stretches into the Sahara toward Libya and Algeria.

Analysts warn that ISSP and ISWAP are attempting to use the Niger-Nigeria border as a bridge between the two groups, connecting two of Africa's most powerful and violent extremist groups across a wide swath of territory, a move JNIM opposes.

“Niger is a territory of competition between them,” Wassim Nasr, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, said.

“If JNIM loses the upper hand in Niger against the Islamic State, it will jeopardize its upper hand in Mali and Burkina Faso. … You have an open space like the Wild West, where each is looking to mark its territory,” he added.

——-

Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this report.