00:07A coordinated attack on an international airport in the heart of West Africa.
00:14And tonight, al-Qaeda's branch in the Sahel is claiming full responsibility.
00:20Early on Thursday morning, militants stormed Diori-Hamani International Airport
00:26and its adjacent military airbase in Miami.
00:31The assault lasted for several hours.
00:35When it was over, 11 soldiers were dead, two civilians killed, four others wounded.
00:42Niger's defense minister called it a treacherous attempted incursion.
00:47Security forces fought back, killing 22 attackers and arresting around 20 suspects.
00:54But here is the part that should make the world pay attention.
00:58The group that carried out this attack was JNIM, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims,
01:06al-Qaeda's official affiliate in the Sahel region.
01:09In a statement published on its propaganda channel, as Zilaka, JNIM confirmed it carried out a targeted attack on the
01:19airport and the neighboring military base.
01:22Not a raid, not a skirmish.
01:24A full-scale assault on a civilian and military airport in a national capital.
01:31Now, why does this airport matter so much?
01:35Because Diori-Hamani International Airport is not just a place where flights land.
01:41It hosts advanced drone infrastructure.
01:44It is home to the joint military headquarters for Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, three nations that have banded together
01:52under what is now called the Alliance of Sahel States.
01:57And buried deep inside that complex sits a large stockpile of uranium from northern Niger, stranded, awaiting export,
02:06caught in the middle of an ongoing dispute with French nuclear firm Orano.
02:12This was not a random target.
02:15This was the most strategically sensitive site in the entire country.
02:20And this is not the first time it has been hit this year.
02:25Back on January 29th, the same airport complex was attacked.
02:29That time, it was Islamic State in the Sahel that claimed responsibility.
02:35Four soldiers were wounded.
02:37Extensive damage was caused.
02:39Two attacks.
02:41Two different jihadist groups.
02:43Same target, same year.
02:45That pattern is not a coincidence.
02:48Analysts are now sounding the alarm.
02:51Henny and Saiba from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Group
02:55says the attack points to parallel expansion of both JNIM and Islamic State across the region.
03:04He warned that long-standing rivalry between the two groups,
03:08their competition for regional dominance,
03:11is now driving increasingly frequent and increasingly deadly attacks on strategic and symbolic targets.
03:19In short, these two groups are not just fighting governments.
03:23They are fighting each other for control of the Sahel.
03:27And civilians and soldiers are paying the price.
03:30Meanwhile, Niger's Juntalier, General Abdurrahman Tiani, went a step further.
03:37He accused France of being behind the attack,
03:40calling it part of a deliberate effort to destabilize the country.
03:44President Emmanuel Macron rejected those claims outright.
03:48But the accusation tells you everything about the poisoned political atmosphere now gripping this region,
03:56where military Juntas, departing Western powers, Russian partners,
04:01and multiple jihadist factions are all pulling in different directions.
04:06The airport has since resumed normal operations.
04:09A large-scale military operation remains underway at the site.
04:13But the message sent by this attack is impossible to ignore.
04:18The Sahel is burning.
04:20The jihadist groups are getting bolder.
04:23And the targets they are choosing are getting bigger.
04:38Subscribe to OneIndia and never miss an update.
04:43Download the OneIndia app now.
Comments