NIAMEY, Sept. 1– Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine attended a burial ceremony Monday at the Martyrs’ Cemetery of Air Base 101 in Niamey for three members of the Presidential Guard who were killed in a foiled mutiny last week.
The ceremony was attended by members of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, government officials, heads of public institutions, diplomats accredited to Niger, as well as senior officials of the defense and security forces.
The three soldiers buried were Warrant Officer Illo Maihatchi, Second-Class Soldier Yahaya Idrissa Zamnaou and Second-Class Soldier Ousmane Haboule Hamissou.
During the ceremony, the three soldiers were posthumously promoted to higher ranks and awarded the Medal of Internal Operations Theaters “Tarha-Nakal” by the prime minister on behalf of the nation, according to the Niger News Agency.
Nigerien authorities have so far not released a full official casualty toll from the events that occurred in Niamey on the nights of Aug. 28 and Aug. 29. The three members are, to date, the only deceased soldiers whose identities have been officially made public by the authorities.
The Nigerien Defense Ministry announced Saturday that it had foiled an attempted mutiny involving a group of soldiers at Air Base 101 in Niamey. According to a ministry statement, a group of soldiers “who had broken with military discipline and regulations” attempted to detain some of their fellow soldiers at the base and opened fire at several sensitive sites in the capital.
The swift response of the defense and security forces brought the movement under control and enabled them to regain control of the sites concerned. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
