Armed men kill dozens of civilians in Niger flashpoint

Niger's Tillaberi region on the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso has become the epicenter of the jihadist attacks.ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AFP) — Armed men have killed at least 37 civilians in an ambush in western Niger near Burkina Faso and Mali, local sources said on Friday.Ruled by a military junta since a 2023 coup, Niger is battling violence by jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.Thousands have been killed in the violence over the last decade.The latest attack targeted residents of the village of Tillim headed early on Thursday to a weekly market in the city of Tera in the restive Tillaberi region, a former elected official said.Escorted by members of a local self-defense group, they “fell into an ambush by unidentified armed men,” he told AFP.He said 37 people were killed on the spot and another succumbed to their wounds a day later.“Among the dead are 11 members of the self-defense group, along with seven women and 20 men,” the former official said.A Tera city resident said the attack killed 37 people including women and children.Several people were wounded and have been taken to the hospital, the resident said.Niger’s Tillaberi region on the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso has become the epicenter of the jihadist attacks.Most deadlyLast year, Tillaberi became the deadliest region in the central Sahel where civilians were the most targeted, according to conflict monitor ACLED.It said the increase in violence was down to Tillaberi’s strategic location in the tri-border area — a flashpoint zone where the frontiers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali converge and jihadists operate.Tillaberi also hosts just under half of the 450,000 people registered as displaced in Niger last year, according to the U.N.Struggling to contain the attacks, the Nigerien army has tolerated the forming of self-defense militias by villagers, leading to clashes with jihadists.In Feburary, 25 civilian self-defense militiamen were killed in ambushes by unidentified assailants in several villages in Tillaberi.Niger’s military authorities announced the following month that civilian army auxiliaries would soon be introduced to help fight the jihadist groups.In the southeast, Niger also faces violence from Boko Haram and their rival splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).Burkina, Mali and Niger — all ruled by military juntas — have teamed up in a confederation and set up a unified force of 5,000 troops to fight the jihadist groups.—By Agence France-PresseSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads