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Attack on Niger presidency repelled ahead of handover

Niger President-elect Mohamed Bazoum will take over from President Mahamadou Issoufou. [Reuters]

A military unit tried to seize the presidential palace in Niger's capital Niamey overnight but it was pushed back by heavy gunfire and order has been restored, a senior Niger security source said yesterday, days before a handover of power.

The assailants, from a nearby airbase, fled after their attack was met with heavy shelling and gunfire from the presidential guard unit, three other security sources said, adding that a search was ongoing.

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