What happened

A coordinated attack struck Niamey's Diori Hamani International Airport and the adjacent Air Base 101 in the early morning of 29 January 2026, according to Wikipedia's sourced chronology of wire and investigative reporting. Islamic State's Sahel Province and West Africa Province claimed responsibility via Amaq News Agency. At least five military aircraft, including one helicopter, were destroyed, and three civilian airliners were damaged: an Air Cote d'Ivoire plane sustained fuselage and wing damage, and two Asky Airlines aircraft were also hit. Niger's official count put attacker losses at 20 killed and 11 captured, with four Nigerien soldiers wounded; unofficial and unconfirmed reports separately claimed 24 Nigerien soldiers and three Russian mercenaries killed. Niger's military ruler, General Omar Tiani, publicly accused France, Benin and Ivory Coast of sponsoring the attack in a televised address naming Presidents Macron, Talon and Ouattara, without presenting supporting evidence. Nigerien officials separately acknowledged that Russian Africa Corps personnel assisted in the base's defense, surfacing a previously unacknowledged Russian military presence there; investigative outlet All Eyes on Wagner separately reported satellite imagery showing a Russian Orthodox church structure and drone positions at the base, and said Turkish TB2 Bayraktar drone assets were a target of the attack. This record introduces the Sahel jihadist insurgency (Niger) as a further conflict dimension in the site's airbase/airport-strike coverage.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.