Niger: Jihadists kill 25 members of self-defence group

Niger’s fight against terrorism has been undermined further as jihadists killed 25 members of a self-defence group in the southwestern Tillabéri region on February 26th, according to RFI and agencies on March 1st.

The victims belonged to the Anzourou self-defence group, where residents from four villages gathered to organise themselves into armed militias to defend themselves against Islamist violence.

Reportedly, militiamen from the self-defence organisation were watching over their villages when they were ambushed by armed men from the Islamic State group.

Niger’s Tillabéri region borders Burkina Faso and Mali and is an area where groups affiliated with the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda have become increasingly entrenched.

On February 4th, the al-Qaeda affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Nigerien defence and security forces position in Makalondi, which killed at least one police officer.

The Makalondi ambush came days after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacking the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey on January 29th.

Reportedly, the airport is a strategic hub that hosts a military base, the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali Joint Force, and a uranium stockpile.

Although the Islamic State claimed responsibility, Niger’s military junta has accused France, Benin and the Ivory Coast of supporting the attack.

In a February 14th broadcast to the State Radio Television (RTN), Niger’s junta leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, criticised “France and its West African lackeys.”

Benin and the Ivory Coast are former French colonies, along with Niger and its junta-led Sahel allies, Burkina Faso and Mali.

The latter three countries are founding members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a cooperation pact designed to counter Islamist terrorism.

Despite this shared colonial history, Niger and its allies have accused Benin and the Ivory Coast of acting as French proxies over their Paris ties.

All five countries have experienced rising Islamist violence, which Benin claims is a result of a spillover from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Togo.

In recent years, the AES have rejected French and Western ties in favour of strategic and security partnerships with Russia, usually in exchange for access to natural resources, such as gold.

Niger had been a Western ally in the Sahel until 2023, when a military coup ousted the democratically elected, pro-Western President, Mohamed Bazoum, and installed Tchiani as leader.

RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org