On May 9, 2020, gunmen attacked the villages of Gadabo, Zibane Koira-Zeno, and Zibane Koira-Tegui in the

Tillabéri Region Tillabéri (var. ''Tillabéry'') is one of the seven regions of Niger. The capital of the region is Tillabéri. Tillabéri Region was created in 1992, when Niamey Region was split, with Niamey and its immediate hinterland becoming a new ''capital ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. At least twenty people were killed. The perpetrators and motive of the attacks are unknown.

Background

The

is situated in a

tri-border area A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated ...

where the boundary of Niger meets that of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

and And or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar and computing * Conjunction, connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a Boolean oper ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. Niger has been under a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

since 2017; this was extended shortly before the attacks took place. Groups such as

Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (, JNIM; , GSIM; ) is a Salafi jihadism, Salafi Jihadist organisation in the Maghreb and West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branc ...

and

Islamic State in the Greater Sahara Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

operate in areas of Tillaberi region. In January 2019, the

Nigerien government The government of Niger is the apparatus through which authority functions and is exercised: the governing apparatus of Nigerien state. The current system of governance, since the Constitution of 25 November 2010, is termed the Seventh Republic ...

limited the use of motorcycles at all hours of the day in a bid to stymie

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

s operating in the area. All of the villages targeted in the attack are in

Anzourou Anzourou is a village and rural commune in Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border ...

, a hub of jihadist activity.

Attacks

Between 4:00 and 5:30 on May 9, 2020, an unknown number of gunmen on motorbikes attacked the villages of Gadabo, Zibane Koira-Zeno, and Zibane-Tegui in Tillaberi. A witness to the massacre stated that the attackers arrived on thirteen to twenty motorcycles, and attacked Gadabo first. The attackers divided into groups, and surrounded the village. In the south side of Gadabo, three people were shot. The attackers then drove off to Zibane Koira-Zeno, where three men were shot in cold blood. In Zibane Koira-Tegui, the last village to be hit, the attackers "shot at anything that moved", and even shot people hiding under their beds. The attackers also yelled not to attack women. Seven people were each killed in Gadabo and Zibane Koira-Zeno, and six people were killed in Zibane Koira-Tegui. The attackers also ransacked shops in the villages, and stole cereal and cattle. Villagers were ordered by the militants to flee. The perpetrators then escaped to the north, towards the Malian border.

Initial response

Ibrahim Tidjani Katchella, the governor of Tillaberi, told national radio that the attackers pillaged shops, but did not elaborate. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, although

and ISGS were the prime suspects. Survivors stated that they only could see rags on the militants' heads, and it was impossible to identify a specific group.

External links

Fear, Anger in West Africa after Deadly Triple Attack - Barron's

References

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