Niger is once again in mourning for a massacre of civilians: at least 31 people were killed on Sunday in an attack by gunmen in the western part of the country, a region close to Burkina Faso and Mali, a hotbed of jihadists in the Sahel.

The attack took place in Bossiye, a village in the Gorouwal commune, in the Tillaberi prefecture, in the so-called "tri-national border" region, where jihadist groups such as UMM, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, and others, which have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, have carried out bloody attacks in the last decade.

In 2025, Tillabéri became “the deadliest region in the central Sahel”: “more than 1,200 deaths, most of them civilians,” a number that “surpassed all other regions” of the country, as well as “Mali and Burkina Faso,” the non-governmental organization ACLED highlighted last week in its summary of armed conflicts in Africa.

On Sunday, "gunmen killed 31 residents in Bossier, 30 were killed in a field and one of the five wounded died at a health center," a villager of the victims told AFP.

According to a student organization from the region, “on Sunday, January 18, 2026, 31 people were executed by Godless and lawless people” and “four others are still hospitalized” in critical condition. The same body expressed “deep shock and sadness” at this “disgusting and barbaric” act.

 

2,000 deaths in 2025

On September 22, 2025, the mayor of Gorouwal, appointed by the country's ruling military, was killed in an ambush by "terrorists."

Gunmen on motorcycles killed 22 villagers a week later in Takoubat, Tillabéri prefecture.

In the same region, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in September that jihadists from the so-called Islamic State in the Sahel (IS) had "summarily executed" at least 127 Muslim villagers and worshippers in five attacks since March.

Nigeria is also facing deadly attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISIS) in its southeast.

According to ACLED, the actions of jihadists resulted in the loss of an estimated 2,000 lives in Niger in 2025.

The country is still ruled by a military junta, which took power in July 2023 in a military coup that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

The head of the junta, General Abdurahmane Chiani, pursues a policy of defending "national sovereignty" and has decided to expel French and American military personnel involved in anti-jihadist operations in the country.

Along with the two other military regimes of Niger's neighbors in the Sahel, also affected by jihadist activity, it has reached out to new partners, notably Russia.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have created the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS) confederation and formed a joint anti-jihadist force of 5,000 men.