a large assault on the sensitive site. Twenty-two attackers were also killed as security forces repelled the raid on the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger's defence ministry said.

Gunfire erupted early in the morning and rang out for hours near the airport, where a large military presence was later deployed, residents said. In the evening, a brief statement from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, or JNIM using its Arabic acronym, said it had carried out "a suicide attack" on the airport and on a neighbouring military base. The group is Al-Qaeda's Sahel branch. Niger has been ruled for three years by a military junta, which has struggled to contain jihadist violence that has rocked the west African country for a decade. "I heard the first shots around 6 o'clock (0500 GMT). The shooting was coming from the airport entrance", where there is a security checkpoint, a resident told AFP by telephone. An airport source said the gunmen had arrived at the checkpoint "by taxi", then encountered "fierce resistance" from security forces. The attackers -- some of whom wore explosive belts, according to the defence ministry -- were "dispersed in the surrounding neighbourhoods, where the security forces are carrying out vast sweeps", the airport source said.

Another resident, a motorbike-taxi driver, said locals were helping the security forces, "hunting down bandits with sticks and machetes".  In a statement read out on TV, the defence ministry said four people had been wounded in the attack and "about 20 suspects" arrested. It said a large-scale army operation was under way and the "international airport, which is fully secure, remains open to air traffic". But tracking site Flightradar24 indicated multiple flights bound for Niamey had been rerouted or delayed. (Bssnews)