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An Islamist insurgency is taking place in the Maghreb region of North Africa, followed on from the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002. The Algerian militant group Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) allied itself with al-Qaeda to eventually become al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algerian and other Maghreb governments fighting the militants have worked with the United States and the United Kingdom since 2007, when Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara began.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, also known as Khalid Abu al-Abbas, The One-Eyed, Nelson, and The Uncatchable, was an Algerian leader of the group Al-Murabitoun, former military commander of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, smuggler and weapons dealer. He was twice convicted and sentenced to death in absentia under separate charges in Algerian courts: in 2007 for terrorism and in 2008 for murder. In 2004, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Algeria for terrorist activities.
Al-Mourabitoun was an African militant jihadist organization formed by a merger between Ahmed Ould Amer, a.k.a. Ahmed al-Tilemsi's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Al-Mulathameen. On 4 December 2015, it joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group seeks to implement Sharia law in Mali, Algeria, southwestern Libya, and Niger.
Operation Barkhane was a counterinsurgency operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region and consisted of a roughly 3,000-strong French force, which was permanently headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. The operation was led in co-operation with five countries, all of which are former French colonies that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. Mali was a part of the operation until August 2022. The countries are collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel". The operation was named after a crescent-shaped dune type that is common in the Sahara desert.
On 9 January 2020, a large group of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants assaulted a Nigerien military base at Chinagodrar, in Niger's Tillabéri Region. They attacked an army post in Chinagodrar, in the west of the country, in Tillabéri Region, 13 kilometres from the border with Mali, 210 kilometres north of Niamey. At least 89 Nigerien soldiers were confirmed to have been killed in the attack, with more casualties suspected, making it the worst attack on the army since the start of the insurgency. The Nigerien government said that 77 militants were killed.
On 9 May 2020, gunmen attacked several villages in the Tillabéri Region of Niger. At least twenty people were killed. The perpetrators and motive of the attacks are unknown.
The Kouré shooting was a mass shooting that occurred in Niger on 9 August 2020. The attack left at least 8 civilians dead, six French and two Nigeriens. The attack took place in Kouré, a rural community in Tillabéri Region.
Events in the year 2021 in Mali.
Since 2015, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has been a hotbed for jihadist forces originating from Mali. The insurgency has taken place in two distinct regions of Niger. In southwest, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Nusrat al-Islam have carried out attacks in the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile, in the southeast, the Islamic State in the West African Province has established control in parts of southern Niger.
This article lists events from the year 2021 in Niger.
Operation Boma's Wrath was a military operation launched by Chad against Boko Haram. Operation was launched on March 31, 2020, one week after Boko Haram's attack on Chadian military base in which 92 Chadian soldiers were killed. Aim of the operation was to destroy hidden jihadist bases and repulse their forces out of Chad. Operation lasted 10 days and according to Chadian military it resulted in roughly 1000 insurgents killed, their bases in Chad destroyed, and capture of arms caches previously taken from Chad.
On 3 May 2021, Islamic militants attacked Kodyel, a village in Foutouri, Burkina Faso. The attack left at least 30 people dead and another 20 injured.
On 4 and 5 June 2021, insurgents attacked the Solhan and Tadaryat villages in the Yagha Province of Burkina Faso. The massacres left at least 174 people dead. Insurgents have been attacking the Sahel Region, along the border with Mali, since Islamists captured parts of Mali in 2013.
An ongoing war and civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of over 2 million people and the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and combatants.
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.
In early April 2023, jihadists killed at least 44 civilians in the towns of Kourakou and Tondobi in Séno Province, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso.
On 2 November 2021, gunmen of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ambushed a delegation being held by the mayor of Bani-Bangou in the village of Adab-Dab, Niger. The attack killed the town mayor and 68 others.
On March 17, 2022, suspected Islamic State - Sahel Province militants attacked a bus traveling from Burkina Faso to Téra, Niger, in the Nigerien village of Petel Kole, killing at least twenty-one people including two Nigerien police officers.
On 2 October 2023, 29 Nigerien soldiers were killed in the village of Tabatol, Niger. The soldiers were attacked by over 100 militants, who used IEDs and “kamikaze vehicles”. The attack was the deadliest in the country since the coup d’état in July occurred.
References
- ↑ Nsaibia, Héni; Duhamel, Jules (17 June 2021). "Sahel 2021: Communal Wars, Broken Ceasefires, and Shifting Frontlines". ACLED. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Killing of at least 137 civilians in Tahoua Region on March 21 highlights role of ethnicity, communal conflicts in ongoing insurgency – Niger Analysis". Max Security. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Gunmen on motorbikes raid Niger villages, kill at least 137". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Niger: 58 dead in 'barbarous' attack – DW – 03/17/2021". dw.com. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Niger: At least 137 killed in attack near Malian border". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Niger hit by deadliest 'jihadist' raids". BBC News. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Niger: attacks on children and families must stop, once and for all". UNICEF UK. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "137 killed in deadly attacks on Niger villages". Daily Sabah. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Terrorist Attacks in Niger". United States Department of State. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ APANews (24 March 2021). "Niger: AU worries about recurrent terrorist attacks". APAnews – African Press Agency. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Killing of 137 People in Latest Niger Attack, Calling upon Authorities to Enhance Civilian Protection | UN Press". press.un.org. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ Agencies (22 March 2021). "Turkey strongly condemns Niger terrorist attacks". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "India strongly condemns terror attacks in Niger – News Live". 25 March 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "Algeria condemns terrorist attacks in West of Niger – Embassy of Algeria in Sofia | Bulgaria" . Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ "The IRC condemns the multiple attacks against civilians in Niger that have killed over 200 people in just ten days | International Rescue Committee (IRC)". www.rescue.org. Retrieved 10 August 2023.