Baley Beri ambush

Last updated
Baley Beri ambush
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Niger
DateMay 14, 2019
Location
Siwili, near Baley Beri, Ouallam Department, Niger
Result ISGS victory
Belligerents
Flag of Niger.svg Niger Islamic State flag.svg Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Djibrilla Hassane  † Unknown
Units involved
112th Special Intervention Company Unknown
Strength
52 men
6 vehicles		 ~100 men
4-5 vehicles
~20 motorcycles
Casualties and losses
27 killed
6 wounded
2 vehicles destroyed
3 vehicles captured		 None (per ISGS)

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.

Contents

Background

On May 13, 2019, a day before the attack, ISGS militants raided the Koutoukale Prison, which held notorious high-ranking members of the ISGS and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). The jihadists were repelled from the prison, and a Nigerien national guardsman was killed. The prison is considered the most high-security in all of Niger, and had underwent an attack by ISGS in 2016 in what started the jihadist insurgency in Niger. [1]

Ambush

Following the raid on Koutoukale, a patrol of Nigerien soldiers in Operation Dongo, a counter-terrorist operation launched several months earlier, were tasked with chasing down the suspects of the raid. This patrol consisted of 52 men and eight vehicles from the 112th Special Intervention Company based in Ouallam. [2] [3] At around 8 a.m. local time on May 14, the Nigerien soldiers were ambushed in the village of Siwili, near Baley Beri. [2] [4] The ambush began with a suicide car bomber, followed immediately by jihadists opening fire on and assaulting the Nigerien forces. [4] [5]

Testimony from survivors of the attack stated that around 100 jihadists took part in the ambush, transported on 4 to 5 vehicles and 20 motorcycles. [6] [7] The emergency calls made to Nigerien forces elsewhere to call for reinforcements were delayed due to the intentional downing of telephone lines in the area by jihadists a week prior to the ambush. Fighting between Nigerien forces and the jihadists lasted for two hours. [8]

Three reconnaissance planes - one French, one Nigerien, and one American - were deployed later that day and flew over the combat zone several times but couldn't find the jihadists, who had fled to the north as Nigerien reinforcements arrived to comb the area. [4] [2] Three Nigerien vehicles were discovered during these operations, but the patrol's commander was missing. [2]

Aftermath

Perpetrator

The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, through the central Islamic State's Amaq News Agency, claimed responsibility for the attack, along with the one on the Koutoukale prison. [9] [10] Nicholas Desgrais, a PhD student at the University of Kent, stated that he and other analysts thought that ISGS had lost operational capacity due to a massive offensive by Operation Barkhane, the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad, and GATIA in the tri-border region between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Desgrais stated that the Baley Beri ambush would mean a resurgence in ISGS' capabilities. [2]

In August 2019, the Nigerien government accused the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA), a Malian Tuareg militia part of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), of participating in the Baley Beri ambush. [11] [12] HCUA officer Alhousseini Ag Ahmedou participated in the attack according to the Nigerien government, and equipment seized from the ambush was taken to the Inadar Valley in Mali and given to HCUA Chief of Staff Achafghi Ag Bohada. [11] [12] The HCUA denied the accusations. [13]

Casualties

On May 15, AFP reported that seventeen Nigerien soldiers were killed and eleven were missing. [14] ActuNiger reported that same day that on the day of the ambush, only 22 of the original 52 men found refuge at the base in Ouallam with three vehicles; the rest of the patrol was considered missing. [6] The next day, the death toll increased to 29, and by the evening of May 16, the Nigerien Ministry of Defense stated that the death toll was 17 killed, 6 wounded, 11 missing, and two vehicles destroyed. [15] A source within AFP stated on the evening of May 16 that 28 soldiers had been killed. [2]

Twenty-seven soldiers were eventually reported killed, alongside the six wounded and two destroyed vehicles. [7] The dead and wounded were found within a fifteen kilometer radius of the battle, and the bodies of the killed soldiers were buried in Tilwa, Niger on the night of May 15 and 16. [7] The head of the detachment, Lt. Djibrilla Hassane, was among the dead. [7] The Nigerien government declared three days of national mourning starting on May 16. [4] The ISGS claimed 40 Nigerien soldiers were killed or wounded and three vehicles were captured in their May 16 statement. [16] ISGS also claimed to have not lost any of their own fighters. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Sahel 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 – Sahel Province (ISSP).

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.

<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 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.

On November 24, 2017, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin ambushed Nigerien MINUSMA peacekeepers and Malian soldiers in the village of Indelimane, Mali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Council for the Unity of Azawad</span> Tuareg political movement

The High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) (French: Haut conseil pour l'unité de l'Azawad) is a Tuareg political movement formed on May 2, 2013, during the Mali War. The movement was initially called the High Council of Azawad (HCA) (French: Haut conseil de l'Azawad) before changing its name on May 19, 2013.

Achafghi Ag Bohada is a Malian Tuareg rebel and chief of staff of the High Council for the Unity of Azawad.

On March 8, 2010, jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) attacked Nigerien forces at their base in Tilwa, Tillabéri Region, Niger.

On October 30, 2014, militants from al-Mourabitoun attacked a refugee camp in Mangaïzé, Niger as part of a simultaneous three-pronged attack on Nigerien forces in Mangaïzé, Ouallam, and Bani-Bangou.

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 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 August 19, 2019, jihadists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked Burkinabe forces in Koutougou, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. 24 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in the attack, and Burkinabe authorities were forced to abandon military outposts in several northern Burkinabe towns following the attack. The attack was the deadliest jihadist attack in Burkinabe history up to that point.

References

  1. ↑ "Niger : un garde national tué dans l'attaque contre la prison de Koutoukalé - Jeune Afrique.com". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Niger: embuscade meurtrière contre l'armée, lourd bilan". RFI (in French). 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  3. ↑ "Niger: l'attaque meurtrière près de Tillabéry rappelle celle d'octobre 2017". RFI (in French). 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Niger: 28 soldats tués dans une nouvelle attaque à la frontière malienne - Le Temps" (in French). 2019-05-16. ISSN   1423-3967 . Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  5. ↑ Macé, Célian. "Au Niger, une patrouille décimée par les balles du jihad". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  6. 1 2 "Tongo Tongo : le ministre de la Défense Kalla Moutari dévoile les circonstances de l'embuscade". ActuNiger (in French). 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Niger: l'embuscade dans la région de Tillabéry revendiquée par l'EIGS". RFI (in French). 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  8. ↑ FRANCE 24 (2019-11-04). Mali : l'OEI affirme sa présence aux frontières avec le Niger et le Burkina Faso . Retrieved 2024-08-12– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ "Niger: l'EI revendique l'embuscade où 28 soldats ont péri". Le Figaro (in French). 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  10. ↑ FRANCE 24 (2019-05-16). Attaque meurtrière contre l'armée nigérienne près de la frontière malienne . Retrieved 2024-08-12– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. 1 2 "Mali: le Niger accuse des membres du HCUA de complicité avec les terroristes". RFI (in French). 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  12. 1 2 "Crise malienne : le coup de semonce des pays voisins". Le Point (in French). 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  13. ↑ "Mali: le HCUA se défend de toute attaque terroriste au Niger". RFI (in French). 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  14. ↑ archive.wikiwix.com https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/monde/20190515.AFP6519/niger-17-morts-et-11-disparus-dans-une-nouvelle-attaque-a-la-frontiere-malienne.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url . Retrieved 2024-08-12.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ "Niger: 17 militaires tués dans une embuscade, annonce le gouvernement". Challenges (in French). Reuters. 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  16. 1 2 "Le groupe État islamique revendique la mort de 28 soldats nigériens". BBC News Afrique (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-12.

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