An attack by armed men on an airport in Niger’s capital has killed 11 soldiers and two civilians, according to the country’s defence ministry, five months after a major assault.

Twenty-two armed attackers were also killed in the assault and about 20 suspects were apprehended, the ministry added in a press statement read out on national television on Thursday.

Soldiers in Niamey fought suspected rebels around the Diori Hamani International Airport and a military airbase on Thursday, sources told Al Jazeera earlier in the day.