Niger: Terrorist groups attack central city

Niger’s fight against terrorism has intensified after militants attacked the central city of Tahoua for the first time, according to RFI and agencies on March 9th.

Tahoua is situated 500 kilometres east of Niger’s capital, Niamey, and is a key centre in Niger’s fight against Islamist terrorism from groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Reportedly, jihadist fighters perpetrated two separate attacks against military bases in Niger that occurred between March 1st and March 9th.

On March 9th, armed men on motorcycles targeted a military base within the city’s airport; the militants were repelled after 45 minutes of gunfire by the defence and security forces, who had what the governor called “a prompt reaction to push back the enemy.”

This is not the first time that an airport has been targeted by militants, as Niamey’s Diori Hamani International Airport was attacked by Islamic State militants in January.

Niamey’s airport is also a strategic hub that houses military bases, the headquarters of the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali Joint Force and a uranium stockpile.

Jihadists have also targeted civilians, with a self-defence group in the southwestern Tillabéri region being ambushed by Islamic State gunmen on February 26th, killing 25 members.

Tillabéri borders Burkina Faso and Mali, which have also experienced growing jihadist violence as groups like the al-Qaeda affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) have become increasingly entrenched.

Furthermore, Islamist militants have expanded operations in the border region between Niger, Nigeria and Benin, leading to a rise in extremist violence.

Despite primarily operating in the Sahel, JNIM has a presence in Nigeria, alongside the Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP); Boko Haram also operates over the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

To fight jihadist terrorism, Niger and its Sahel allies, Burkina Faso and Mali, have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to counter extremism through shared military and intelligence resources.

All three countries are junta-led, former French colonies that have increasingly rejected French and Western ties in favour of strategic and security partnerships with Russia, often in exchange for access to natural resources, such as gold.

Historically, Niger was a Western ally in the Sahel, but that changed in 2023 when a military coup ousted the democratically elected, pro-Western President, Mohamed Bazoum, and installed Abdourahamane Tchiani as leader.

Tchiani has implicated France and its West African allies, including Benin and the Ivory Coast, in terrorist attacks in Niger, despite providing no evidence to support these allegations.

RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org