Dozens of civilians were killed this week after Nigerien airstrikes against jihadists near the country’s western border with Mali, witnesses told AFP on Friday. Niger has faced frequent attacks from Islamist militant fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, with the military junta in power struggling to quell the violence. On Monday, “army strikes targeted terrorists travelling on motorbikes and there were dozens of civilian deaths in Injar,” one local resident told AFP. Another local corroborated the account. Injar is located some 200 km (124 miles) northeast of the capital Niamey. It’s in the vast Tillaberi region bordering Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups are active. Locals have regularly reported deadly attacks by militants on motorbikes, who also demand money and steal livestock. Niger state television RTN said only that “unfortunate events” in Injar caused casualties and injuries, without specifying a toll. Media outlet Les Echos du Niger quoted unnamed witnesses as saying there were “several dozen casualties... in the army’s aerial operations”. Military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani sent the governor of the western Tillaberi region, Colonel Main Boukar, to Injar on Thursday “to offer his condolences and compassion” to those affected. He was seen on RTN visiting the injured and told locals that they should comply with a ban on motorcycle use so civilians are not mistaken for militants. In January 2024, several civilians were killed in military airstrikes targeting columns of jihadists after an attack on a military post in Tyawa, near the border with Burkina Faso.
