2017 Ayorou attack

Last updated
2017 Ayorou attack
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Niger
Niger relief location map.jpg
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2017 Ayorou attack (Niger)
DateOctober 21, 2017
Location
Ayorou, Tillaberi Region, Niger
Result ISGS victory
Belligerents
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger Islamic State flag.svg Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
Casualties and losses
13 killed
5 injured
3 vehicles captured		 3+ killed
1 vehicle destroyed

The 2017 Ayorou attack occurred on 21 October 2017 when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked a Nigerien military outpost in the village of Ayorou in southwestern Niger, killing 13 gendarmes. Occurring just weeks after a similar attack in the area killed four American and four Nigerien troops, the attack was carried out by ISGS gunmen who crossed the porous border from Mali.

Contents

Background

The town of Ayorou, located four kilometers from the Malian refugee camp of Tabareybarey and twenty-five kilometers from the Malian border town of Labbezanga. [1] Jihadists had attacked Ayorou on May 11, 2017, with the jihadists seizing weapons and ammunition. [2] No casualties were reported in the May attack, but the Nigerien gendarmerie post in Ayorou was left without defensive walls afterward, and the gendarmes only had trenches to defend themselves. [3]

In early October 2017, Nigerien and American forces were killed by an ISGS ambush in Tongo Tongo, also in Tillabéri Region. [4]

Attack

At dawn on October 21, militants in four to five vehicles and motorcycles and armed with machine guns and rocket launchers attacked the gendarmes in Ayorou. [4] The jihadists entered Ayorou from the east, and looted the gendarme's armory stealing weapons and three vehicles. [4] Nigerien paratroopers from the nearby Yassen camp then arrived as reinforcements, and chased the jihadists when they fled Ayorou. [1] Some of the militants were intersected north of the town, near Inates and in Malian territory, after a Nigerien patrol killed several jihadists and destroyed their vehicle. [1] [4] Nigerien planes surveilled the area, and cleanup operations were launched. The air force had spotted some of the jihadists in a Malian village during the clean-up operations, but the attackers escaped. [5]

Aftermath

Thirteen gendarmes were killed and five others were wounded, according to the Nigerien Ministry of Defense spokesman Samba Gagara. [6] [7] Residents of Ayorou testified that the jihadists fled the town carrying bodies of their comrades, and at least three were left behind. [4] [6] [8] [9] The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara claimed responsibility for the attack on January 12, 2018. [10]

In a statement released by the U.S. embassy, the United States strongly condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of the victims. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Sahil Province</span> Islamic State affiliate

The Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province and naming it Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist insurgency in the Sahel</span> Insurgency throughout the Sahel and West Africa

An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.

On January 26, 2020, jihadists from the al-Qaeda linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a Malian military base at Sokolo, killing over 20 Malian soldiers.

On November 18, 2019, Malian troops were ambushed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara during a patrol of Tabankort, in Ménaka Cercle, Mali.

The Ménaka offensive was a series of offensives launched by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara against the Malian Army, Tuareg self-defense groups including the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA), and the al-Qaeda-aligned Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. The offensives took place in the Ménaka Cercle, in southeastern Mali.

The battle of Akabar took place on April 1, 2018, between French and Malian forces aided by Tuareg rebels against Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

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The Tazalit attack, also known as the Tazalit massacre, occurred on October 6, 2016, when unknown jihadists attacked Nigerien forces at the Tazalit refugee camp in Niger, killing dozens of Nigerien soldiers. The attack was the deadliest attack on Nigerien forces so far during the jihadist insurgency in Niger.

On November 8, 2016 Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) fighters attacked Nigerien forces in Bani-Bangou, Tillabéri Region, Niger.

On February 22, 2017, jihadists from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien forces in Tilwa, Ouallam Department, Niger.

On March 6, 2017, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) militants attacked Nigerien forces between Wanzarbe and Yatakala, Niger.

Between May 31 and June 1, 2017, clashes broke out between Nigerien forces and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) near Abala, Niger. These clashes expanded to the Nigerien-Malian border near Bani-Bangou, and on June 1 the ISGS militants were confronted by French, Malian, and Tuareg militias when the militants fled towards Ménaka Region, Mali.

On July 5, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) attacked Nigerien forces near Midal, Niger. The attack was the first claimed by JNIM in Niger.

On May 14, 2019, jihadists from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien forces in Baley Beri, Niger, killing twenty-seven Nigerien soldiers.

On July 1, 2019 Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants attacked the mining town of Inates, Tillabéri Region, Niger, killing eighteen Nigerien soldiers.

On December 25, 2019, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) militants attacked Nigerien forces in Sanam, Tillabéri Region, Niger.

On March 12, 2020, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants attacked an outpost of the National Guard of Niger in Ayorou, Niger, killing several soldiers. French and Nigerien counterattacks killed dozens of ISGS militants.

On February 10, 2023, militants from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ambushed Nigerien soldiers at Intagamey, Niger, killing at least seventeen people.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Niger: nouvelle attaque terroriste contre le camp de la gendarmerie d'Ayorou". RFI (in French). 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  2. ↑ "Niger: le camp de la gendarmerie d'Ayorou ciblé par une attaque". RFI (in French). 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  3. ↑ "Comment des djihadistes ont piégé une patrouille américaine au Niger". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2017-11-04. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Niger: 13 gendarmes tués lors d'une nouvelle attaque". La Presse (in Canadian French). 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  5. ↑ "Niger : " Nos armées n'ont pas encore convaincu " dans la lutte contre les djihadistes". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  6. 1 2 "At Least 12 Nigerien Troops Killed in Latest Attack". VOA. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  7. ↑ Aksar, Moussa (2017-10-21). "Gunmen kill 13 Niger gendarmes in attack near Mali border". U.S. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  8. ↑ "Niger soldiers killed in attack near Mali border". France 24. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  9. ↑ "Attacks claimed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)". MENASTREAM. 2018-06-23. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  10. ↑ "وكالة نواكشوط للأنباء". وكالة نواكشوط للأنباء (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  11. ↑ Niger, U.S. Embassy (2017-10-23). "Statement on Attack on Gendarme Outpost in Ayorou". U.S. Embassy in Niger. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
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