Deadly jihadist attack claims 16 lives in Niger’s banibangou

Sixteen civilians were killed on Friday in a violent armed assault in Banibangou, a district in western Niger’s Tillabéri region. The attack shattered months of relative calm in an area that borders Mali, where Islamist extremist factions have been actively operating.

Banibangou, situated close to the Mali border, has become a hotspot for insurgent activities linked to two of the region’s most notorious jihadist groups: the Islamic State in the Sahel and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition active across the Sahel.