Locals in Niger say 'terrorists' killed 25 militia members

The wreckage of the car carrying the seven aid workers and a guide who were killed in a terror attack on Sunday, August 9, 2020. [AFP]

Local sources in western Niger said "terrorists" killed 25 members of a militia in several villages near the Mali border.

"Twenty-five self-defence militia fell on Thursday in terrorist ambushes," a former mayor in the commune of Anzourou told AFP -- a toll confirmed by a leader from a local civil association.

"There were 25 young self-defence fighters who lost their lives and three others who were wounded and evacuated" to hospitals in Tillaberi town and Niamey, the latter source said.

The surrounding Tillaberi region is an area of operations of the Sahel branch of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Conflict-monitoring NGO ACLED said that in 2025 Tillaberi became the deadliest region in the central Sahel, with more than 1,200 deaths recorded.

It blamed the violence mainly on the Islamic State in the Sahel group, followed by the Nigerien army and the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

The association source said the victims came from four neighbouring villages -- Doukou Makani, Doukou Djinde, Doukou Saraou and Doukou Koirategui.

The Anzourou district is made up of around 50 villages and hamlets in Tillaberi, which borders near the area between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, long the scene of deadly jihadist attacks.

Niger has been run by a military junta since a coup in July 2023.

For the last decade, the country has been blighted by deadly jihadist attacks. Since the beginning of the year, there have been nearly 2,000 deaths, according to ACLED.

With the Nigerien army struggling to contain the attacks, it has tolerated the creation of self-defence militias by villagers, leading to bloody clashes with jihadists.

In December last year, the military regime in Niamey announced a "general mobilisation" and the "requisition" of people and property to better fight the Islamists.

Niger has created a 6,000-strong joint force with Mali and Burkina Faso, countries also run by the military and facing jihadist violence.