Sources say a group of soldiers tried to break through to the presidential palace in the country’s capital but the presidential guard prevented it from being seized
A group of soldiers in Niger launched a failed coup attempt on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported. This was reported by Agence France-Presse citing security sources in the country.
According to them, a group of soldiers tried to break through to the presidential palace in the capital Niamey in the early hours of the morning, but the presidential guard prevented its capture.
“Arrests have been made among those soldiers who are the instigators of this coup attempt”, – a security official was quoted by AFP as saying. – “The said group of soldiers could not approach the presidential palace as they were attacked by the presidential guard.”
There have been no official reports of what happened so far.
Earlier, news portal Aktyunizhe reported that intense gunfire occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning outside the presidential palace in the Nigerian capital Niamey. The shooting started at 03:00 local time (05:00 Moscow time) and subsided by 04:00, after which only gunfire was reported in some neighbourhoods of the capital. “The situation is under full control and the [shooting] incident is over,” a senior security official told the portal.
Meanwhile, Xinhua news agency reported that gunfire was also heard around the capital’s international airport, where one of the country’s largest military bases is located.
The current events took place 48 hours before the inauguration of the ruling party’s winning presidential candidate Mohamed Bazoom. The incumbent head of state, Mahamadou Issoufou, did not take part in the elections. He had been elected to the presidency twice and was constitutionally barred from standing for a third term.