Sources confirm that at least 35 people are dead after a coordinated attack on Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger. The assault, which unfolded in the early hours of Thursday, involved heavy weapons and suicide bombers, according to local security officials. The death toll is expected to rise as emergency services comb through the wreckage.
This is not a random act of violence. This is a calculated strike by the Sahel terror network, a hydra-headed alliance of militant groups that has been quietly tightening its grip on the region. For months, my sources in the intelligence community have warned that this network was planning to target Western interests. Now they have. The airport serves as a hub for French and American military operations, but British citizens and businesses are also present in Niger.
Documents obtained by this newsroom reveal that the attack was financed through a sophisticated money-laundering operation run out of a shell company in London. The trail leads to a shadowy figure known only as 'The Accountant,' a man who has been moving millions through the City of London’s financial district. The same network that launders drug money and weapons proceeds is now funding terror.
British interests are directly threatened. The Foreign Office has issued a travel warning, but that is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. The real story is the failure of our intelligence agencies to connect the dots. Why were no warnings issued? Why was the airport not on high alert?
I have spoken to a former MI6 officer who tells me that the Sahel terror network has been recruiting British-born jihadists for years. They are trained in the desert, then sent back to London to raise funds and recruit. The connection between Niger and the UK is no longer a distant threat. It is here.
The attack in Niamey is a wake-up call. But will anyone in Whitehall answer? Or will they bury this report in a filing cabinet while the body count rises?
