An attempted coup has been thwarted in Niger following heavy gunfire overnight close to the presidential palace, security sources said on Wednesday.
A group of soldiers behind the assault has been arrested, AFP reports.
The gunfire started around 03:00 local time (02:00 GMT), with people in the capital saying it lasted between 15 and 30 minutes.
“We heard shots from heavy and light weapons and it lasted 15 minutes before stopping, followed by shots from light weapons,” a resident told the AFP news agency.
A security source told Reuters that it was a unit from a nearby airbase that had tried to seize the presidential palace in Niamey.
The assailants were pushed back amid shelling and gunfire by the presidential guard, security sources told both AFP and Reuters.
The attack comes two days before President-elect Mohamed Bazoum is due to be sworn in.
It will be the first transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents in Niger since the country became independent in 1960.
There has been increasing attacks by jihadist groups as well as political tensions in the country following Mr Bazoum’s victory in February.
His rival, Mahamane Ousmane, has rejected the result and his supporters were earlier banned from holding a protest on Wednesday in the capital, Niamey.
Both the president-elect and outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou were safe, former US Sahel envoy J Peter Pham, said on Twitter.
President Issoufou is stepping down after two five-year terms. His successor, Mr Bazoum, is a former interior minister from the governing party.
