UNIDENTIFIED assailants launched an assault on Niger’s capital that brought them perilously close to concentrated uranium powder stored at a military facility adjacent to Niamey’s international airport. Heavy gunfire and explosions erupted near Diori Hamani International Airport early Thursday at a location where yellowcake uranium from French company Orano’s mine had been stockpiled, said Bloomberg News citing an earlier report by Agence France-Presse. Four members of Niger’s security forces sustained injuries. Military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani, who ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in 2023, has reoriented Niger towards Russia whilst severing security relationships with Washington and Paris. Niger withdrew from regional bloc Ecowas and joined Mali and Burkina Faso in establishing the Alliance of Sahel States.