Latest news with #NIAMEY
Arab News
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Niger withdraws from Lake Chad military force fighting terrorist groups
NIAMEY: Niger has withdrawn from the military coalition fighting terrorist groups in the Lake Chad region of west-central Africa, saying it will focus instead on protecting its oil operations from attacks. The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the four countries bordering Lake Chad since a 2023 coup by Niger's military. In a bulletin read on state TV, the army said the operation under the Multinational Joint Task Force, active since 2015, would now be called 'Nalewa Dole' following Niger's withdrawal. The move 'reflects a stated intent to reinforce security for oil sites,' the bulletin stated, without further elaboration. The four countries that surround Lake Chad — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — have been battling insurgencies since 2009, after a spate of violent campaigns by the Boko Haram group in Nigeria's northeast spilled into its neighbous. The ensuing conflict, which has drawn in other extremist groups, has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. But since the July 2023 coup, Niger's military junta has accused Nigeria of supporting foreign forces in a bid to destabilize it, which Abuja denies. Oil infrastructure in southeast Niger meanwhile, in particular a pipeline leading from the landlocked country to Benin, regularly face attacks by armed groups. The governor of Niger's Diffa region, General Ibrahim Bagadoma, said at a regional summit in February that 'The problem is that some are making efforts, while others are undermining them. We must present a united front and end foreign regional interferences.' Late last year, Chad had threatened to withdraw from the Joint Task Force after an attack killed around 40 of its soldiers, citing an 'absence of mutualized efforts.'
Arab News
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Militants' ambush kills 11 soldiers in north Niger
NIAMEY: An attack claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked militants killed 11 soldiers in northern Niger near the Algerian border, local sources and media reported. According to Air Info news website, an army patrol was ambushed in the Ekade Malane area on Friday and the JNIM group claimed responsibility. It said the 11 soldiers were buried on Saturday in the presence of top officers including armed forces chief of staff Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou. State radio confirmed the attack and death toll but said the patrol was ambushed by 'bandits.' Niger forces stationed near Algeria face occasional attacks by armed assailants. These are usually not attributed to militants, who are more active in borderlands straddling Mali and Burkina Faso. Niger's vast desert north is however a notorious corridor for illicit traffickers and a transit point for thousands of Africans hoping to reach Europe. The Sahel country is governed by a military junta which seized power in July 2023 vowing to tackle Niger's security issues. Yet unrest persists: Since the coup at least 2,400 people have been killed in attacks, according to the international conflict monitor ACLED. Together with junta-led allies Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger is setting up a joint 5,000-strong force to tackle the region's unrest.
