The
Niger Air Force maintains Base Aérienne 101, which is collocated with Diori Hamani International Airport. It has been variously used by American, French, and Russian armed forces as a base for operations and training missions. The former American and French bases, both established in 2013, were located at adjacent parts of the airport. in 2018 In 2013,
U.S. African Command spokesman Benjamin Benson confirmed that U.S. air operations conducted from Base Aérienne 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport were providing "support for intelligence collection with French forces conducting operations in Mali and with other partners in the region." In July 2013,
The New York Times reported that
the deployment had expanded from one
Predator UAV to daily flights by a detachment of two larger
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, supported by 120
U.S. Air Force personnel. The MQ-9 Reapers were scheduled to be relocated to
Niger Air Base 201 in 2018. Italy placed troops at the American base in 2018, supporting European Union interests in the region. Around 2013, two
Ku band arrays were constructed at the airport to allow for communication with
EADS Harfang UAVs. The
French Air and Space Force Escadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort operated three
MQ-9 Reapers out of the base starting in January 2014 in support of
Operation Barkhane. France made Niamey a centre of operations during
Operation Serval of the
Mali War. Germany also had 50 troops in Niamey in 2020 as part of the
United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. A French Operational Transport Group was also based at the airbase as of 2020, controlling
Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft instead of the previous
Transall C-160s. In 2022, French assets were moved from Gao to a
forward operating base in Niamey, which had 1,000 troops garrisoned and became France's largest center of operations in West Africa. The Nigerien Air Force maintains two
Cessna-208 Caravans equipped for
ISTAR operations at the airport. In the aftermath of the
2023 Nigerien coup d'état, both
France and the
United States were told to withdraw their military personnel from the country. French forces departed from the airbase in December 2023. In May 2024
Russian troops moved in to one of the airports' hangars while some U.S. troops were still on the same property, but not in same buildings. On 7 July 2024, the U.S. completed withdrawal of all troops from the airbase. On 29 January 2026 the
Islamic State staged
an attack on the base; gunfire was reported at the airport and
FlightRadar24 showed a number of aircraft diverting away from the airport. Authorities later said that gunmen attacked the base, leaving 20 attackers including a French national dead, 11 others arrested and four soldiers injured. It blamed France, Benin and Ivory Coast for sponsoring the assault, adding that it was repelled with the help of Russian soldiers stationed at the base. Satellite photos showed damage to buildings with the military area of the airport. == Airlines and destinations ==