German embassy withdraws staff from Niger

As Niger’s fight against Islamist terrorism appears increasingly futile, the German embassy has temporarily withdrawn its staff from Niamey, according to Africa News and agencies on March 21st.

Berlin cited concerns that Western nationals are prime targets for kidnappings by terrorist groups and criminal gangs, with the former using ransom payments to fund operations as part of so-called “economic jihad.”

The Sahel region accounts for nearly half of all terror-related deaths, according to a March 19th report from the Global Terrorism Index (GTI).

According to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), around 1,300 people were killed in Niger’s western Tillabéri region in 2025, which borders Burkina Faso and Mali.

Germany maintained military detachments in Niger; however, the July 2023 military coup that ousted the pro-Western President, Mohamed Bazoum, led to concerns about the safety of embassy staff.

The coup installed General Abdourahamane Tchiani as the junta leader, who is critical of the former French colony’s Western ties.

Within a week of the coup, the US ordered the partial evacuation of its embassy staff and their families on August 2nd, 2023.

Italy and France had evacuated European citizens of Mali within days of the July 26th coup, with the US initially being less eager to evacuate its citizens.

Niger has ramped up criticism of Western ties, particularly France, in recent weeks; Tchiani blamed France, the Ivory Coast and Benin for the January 29th attack on Niamey’s Diori Hamani International Airport.

Although the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the airport attack, Tchiani claimed that France, Benin and the Ivory Coast had sponsored the attack to destabilise the Sahel.

In recent years, Islamist terrorism has increased in the Sahel, as well as in the border region between Nigeria, Niger and Benin.

Benin has blamed the growing jihadist threat on a spillover from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, which have struggled to contain rising Islamist violence.

Groups affiliated with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have expanded operations across the Sahel and West Africa.

Much of the violence is concentrated in the “coup belt” of Niger and its junta-led Sahel allies, Burkina Faso and Mali.

The Sahel allies formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to counter the growing threat of terrorism through shared military and intelligence resources.

Amid growing anti-Western sentiment, the AES have rejected Western ties in favour of strategic and security partnerships with Russia.

Africa News and agencies, Maghrebi.org