22 Killed in Fresh Attack in Niger’s Troubled Tillaberi Region
NIAMEY – At least 22 people were killed on Monday in Niger’s Tillaberi region, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali, an area plagued by jihadist violence linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
According to residents, armed men first stormed a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village, killing 15 people. The attackers then moved to the outskirts of the village, where they shot and killed seven more.
Local media outlet Elmaestro TV described the incident as a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification.”
“This is yet another tragedy for Tillaberi, a region repeatedly hit by barbarism, leaving families in mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights activist Maikoul Zodi said in a social media post.
Rising insecurity
Niger’s military rulers, who seized power in a coup two years ago, have struggled to rein in jihadist violence in Tillaberi despite deploying thousands of troops. Just last week, 20 soldiers were killed in a separate attack in the same region.
Human Rights Watch has urged the authorities to step up efforts to protect civilians, noting that the Islamic State group has executed at least 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five separate attacks since March.
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) estimates that nearly 1,800 people have been killed in Niger since October 2024, with three-quarters of those deaths recorded in Tillaberi.
Regional challenge
Niger, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali — all now under military rule — has expelled French and U.S. forces that previously assisted in counter-jihadist operations. The juntas say they are pursuing “sovereign” policies, but insecurity in the region continues to spiral.
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