Niger

Islamic State Expanding Globally Amid Setbacks: US Official

The Islamic State group continues to expand globally with some 20 affiliates, despite being forced out of Syria and the killing of its leaders, a top US counter-terror official said Thursday.

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Niger Soldiers Executed Dozens of Civilians, Probe Says

Soldiers in Niger executed dozens of civilians during the counterinsurgency campaign against jihadists in the country's troubled Tillaberi region earlier this year, a probe into the deaths reported.

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Niger Attack Raises Stakes for French Forces in West Africa

Six French nationals were among eight people killed in a suspected jihadist attack in Niger on Sunday, raising fresh questions about a massive French troop deployment aimed at bolstering security in West Africa's Sahel region.

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French Aid Workers Among Eight Killed by Gunmen in Niger

Gunmen on motorcycles killed eight people including a group of French aid workers as they visited a part of Niger popular with tourists for its wildlife, officials said.

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Senegal Builds Military Camp Near Border With Troubled Mali

Senegal began building a military camp near its border with violence-torn Mali to address "cross-border threats (and) trafficking," the defense ministry said.

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Mayor, Soldiers Among Eight Killed in Burkina Faso Attack

Battling a jihadist insurgency since 2015, Burkina Faso had no room to breathe a sigh of relief on Monday when gunmen ambushed an official convoy and killed eight people.

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Jihadists Abduct 10 Aid Workers in Niger: NGO

Armed jihadists abducted 10 humanitarian workers as they were distributing food in a village in southwestern Niger, their NGO said.

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Two UN Peacekeepers Killed in Attack in Northern Mali

Gunmen have killed two UN peacekeepers in a region of northwestern Mali wracked by jihadist violence, the UN said Sunday.

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Three Top Jihadists Dominate Sahel After Al-Qaeda Leader Death

Three leaders have been left dominating the jihadist insurgency in the Sahel, following the death of a top al-Qaeda commander in the West African state of Mali last week.

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Thousands Flee Niger Refugee Camp After Jihadist Attack

Thousands of people have fled a camp hosting 20,000 Malian refugees in western Niger after a deadly jihadist attack devastated the site, the United Nations said Wednesday. Around 50 jihadists on motorbikes killed three local leaders, abducted a guard, destroyed communication antennas, and sabotaged the water supply at the Intikane site near the Malian border in a coordinated attack on Monday. Intikane is home to around 20,000 Malian refugees and 15,000 internally displaced Niger citizens — all of whom previously fled their villages due to jihadist violence — as well as the local population. Now many are on the move again, with some 3,000 people fleeing to Tlemces, a site 27 kilometers (43 miles) from Intikane, the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Niamey told AFP. UNHCR official Kourouma Mamady Fatta said the agency was carrying out an assessment of the damage and was trying to get the water supply flowing again. The governor of the Tahoua region, Moussa Abdourahamane, said, “Intikane is losing its population, people are moving towards Tlemces.” The jihadists “attacked the sensitive points of the site — they cut communication lines to isolate the population and they destroyed the sources for drinking water,” he told the national public …

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