Twenty-two people killed in attack on christening ceremony in Niger

VATICAN CITY - A group of armed men killed at least twenty-two people in another attack in the Tillabéri region. In the last two years, jihadist groups on the rampage in Niger have caused more than 1 600 deaths. At least twenty-two people lost their lives on 16 September after armed men on motorcycles opened fire on participants in a christening celebration in the village of Takoubatt in western Niger, near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso. Local television station Elmaestro tv reports a "horrifying death toll: 22 innocent people were cowardly killed without reason or justification".

Insecurity on the borders between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso

The attack, which took place during a christening celebration, was reported by Nigerian civil rights activist Maikoul Zodi, who called on the military junta that has been in power in Niamey since 2023 to do more for the citizens of the beleaguered Tillabéri region. In recent days, NGOs have also Human Rights Watch called on the Nigerian authorities to "do more to protect" civilians from deadly attacks.

Last week alone, 14 Nigerian soldiers were killed in these areas. The HRW report highlighted the precarious security situation in the Tillabéri region, where at least five massacres by the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Sahel province (IS Sahel) have occurred since March, killing at least 127 civilians.

According to HRW, civilians die not only in executions of residents, but also in looting and burning of houses and schools in retaliation for their alleged collaboration with the army. The attacks, according to Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher for the Sahel at the international NGO Human Rights Watch, "violated international humanitarian law and constitute manifest war crimes".

More than 1,600 deaths in two years

In Niger, where the National Council for the Protection of the Homeland has ruled since July 2023 after ousting and imprisoning the republic's president, Mohamed Bazoum, IS Sahel has killed an estimated Armed Conflict Location and Event Data 1,600 civilians in the last two years. The ruling military junta is trying to curb these crimes with a 'counter-insurgency operation', but data coming out of the Sahel suggests that there is widespread insecurity in the country.

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