Source says two aircraft on ground ‘destroyed’ although authorities yet to comment on situation
Gunfire and loud blasts have been heard at the main airport in the Nigerien capital of Niamey, according to the Reuters news agency and an independent source.
A witness told Reuters they heard explosions just after midnight. The airport is next to Base Aérienne 101, a military base previously used by American and then Russian troops.
A source with the Togolese airline Asky told the Guardian that gunshots made several holes in the fuselage of its two planes on the tarmac of Niamey airport. Staff were at their hotel at the time but remained stranded in the country.
“They destroyed both aircraft … they left evidence at the scene,” the source said.
