Visual Timelines · 2008–2026
Niger lies between the two main jihadist theatres of West Africa: the borderlands with Mali and Burkina Faso to the west, and the Lake Chad basin to the south-east. In 2007–2009 its main armed conflict was a Tuareg rebellion in the north, which was not jihadist. From 2008 al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb kidnapped foreigners on Nigerien soil, and in 2013 the war in Mali brought suicide bombings to Agadez and Arlit.
This timeline follows how Boko Haram opened a second front in Diffa in 2015, how the Islamic State's Sahel branch made the Tillabéri and Tahoua borderlands the deadliest region of the country, how civilians were killed by jihadists, soldiers and militias, and how the 2023 coup, the departure of French and US forces and two attacks on Niamey airport in 2026 changed the war.
Photo: Noah Maxwell · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
Kidnappings and the Mali spillover
Robert Fowler, the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for Niger, and his colleague Louis Guay, both Canadian diplomats, were abducted near Niamey; UN officials said their abandoned car was found about 30 miles north-east of the capital. In February 2009 al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said it was holding them. They were held until April 2009.
Kidnappings and the Mali spillover
Gunmen seized five French nationals, a Togolese and a Malagasy, foreign staff living in Areva's guarded residential area, from their homes in Arlit, the uranium-mining town in the Agadez region. French authorities believed they had been taken to northern Mali. The AP reported it was the first time foreigners had been seized indoors and in a secure area. AQIM claimed the kidnapping.
Kidnappings and the Mali spillover
Armed men seized two Frenchmen from a restaurant in Niamey and drove towards Mali. Nigerien forces, coordinated with French units in the region, intercepted the kidnappers near the Malian border; after the fighting the two hostages were found dead, France's defence minister said. AQIM claimed the kidnapping.
Kidnappings and the Mali spillover
In the first suicide attacks in Niger, a car bomb and an assault team struck the army barracks in Agadez, and a second car bomb hit the Somaïr uranium plant run by Areva at Arlit, halting production. The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) claimed both as retaliation for Niger's role in Mali; Mokhtar Belmokhtar said his fighters took part.
Two fronts: Lake Chad and the Malian border
Boko Haram fighters launched a succession of cross-border attacks on Bosso and Diffa, including three suicide attacks, the UN reported; one hit Diffa's pepper market. Nigerien forces repelled the assaults. Parliament voted unanimously to send troops to the regional force against Boko Haram, and on 10 February the government declared a state of emergency in the Diffa region.
Two fronts: Lake Chad and the Malian border
Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters attacked the army's position in Bosso, on the Lake Chad shore, and torched parts of the town; a resident said they did what they liked until dawn. A counter-offensive retook the town the next morning, the defence ministry said. Boko Haram publicised the attack widely. It was Boko Haram's deadliest attack in Niger since Karamga in 2015, Reuters reported.
Two fronts: Lake Chad and the Malian border
Gunmen killed 22 soldiers guarding an area hosting Malian refugees at Tazalit, in the Tahoua region, on 6 October. On 17 October an attack on the high-security prison of Koutoukalé, near Niamey, was repelled; Amnesty International says a group calling itself the Islamic State carried it out. On 30 October the Islamic State's Amaq agency announced the pledge of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui's faction.
Two fronts: Lake Chad and the Malian border
A joint patrol of US special forces and Nigerien soldiers, returning from a mission against a commander of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), was ambushed by a large force just south of Tongo Tongo, near the Malian border. Four American and four Nigerien soldiers were killed, according to the US Defense Department. ISGS claimed the attack.
Massacres in the west
Several hundred fighters attacked the military camp at Inatès, near the Malian border, with car bombs and mortars, killing 71 soldiers, the defence ministry said. A month later an assault on the Chinagodrar post killed at least 89 soldiers, the army's deadliest attack yet according to the UN. The Islamic State claimed both; the UN Monitoring Team attributes Inatès to ISGS.
Massacres in the west
During a military operation in the Inatès and Ayorou area, soldiers arrested 102 residents who then disappeared, according to Amnesty International. Niger's national human rights commission (CNDH) later found 71 bodies in six mass graves in Inatès commune and concluded that members of the defence and security forces had carried out summary executions. The defence ministry rejected the findings.
Massacres in the west
Gunmen killed six French aid workers, a Nigerien guide and a driver at a giraffe reserve near Kouré, about 65 kilometres from Niamey. The victims worked for the aid groups ACTED and IMPACT Initiatives. The Islamic State claimed the killings under the name of its West Africa Province; the UN Monitoring Team attributes them to ISGS.
Massacres in the west
On the eve of local elections, Boko Haram fighters attacked Toumour in the Diffa region for four hours. According to local reports cited by UNHCR, they destroyed nearly two-thirds of the town's homes, burned the market to the ground and killed more than a thousand cattle. Toumour hosted tens of thousands of refugees and displaced people. Boko Haram claimed the attack.
Massacres in the west
As results of the presidential election's first round were announced, fighters on motorbikes attacked the villages of Zaroumdareye and Tchoma Bangou, seven kilometres apart, north of Niamey. Human Rights Watch counted 102 dead, most of them Zarma men and boys. Witnesses told the organisation they believed the attackers were linked to the Islamic State.
Massacres in the west
Gunmen stopped vehicles returning from the weekly market at Banibangou, near the Malian border, lined up the passengers, separated them by ethnicity and sex, and executed 66 men and boys, all Zarma except one driver, Human Rights Watch reported. AFP reported that they also attacked a village, burning vehicles and granaries. The government gave a toll of 58.
Massacres in the west
Fighters on motorbikes attacked Intazayene, Bakorat, Wistane and nearby camps in the Tillia department of the Tahoua region, executing people at wells, at mosques and on paths, and stealing livestock. Human Rights Watch counted at least 170 dead, mostly Tuareg: the deadliest attack on civilians in Niger's recent history. Elders linked it to refusals to pay a punitive zakat.
The junta and the war on the capital
Army officers of the self-proclaimed National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, led by Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, overthrew and detained the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. The West African bloc ECOWAS imposed severe economic and travel sanctions, and in August its defence chiefs agreed a “D-day” for a possible military intervention to restore him.
The junta and the war on the capital
Hundreds of jihadists using improvised explosive devices and “kamikaze vehicles” attacked a detachment north-west of Tabatol, in the Tahoua region near the Malian border, killing at least 29 soldiers, the defence ministry said. The BBC described it as the deadliest attack since the coup. The ministry said the attackers had benefited from “outside expertise”.
The junta and the war on the capital
At the junta's demand, France withdrew its roughly 1,500 soldiers and pilots; the last left on 22 December 2023. In April 2024 Russia sent military trainers and an air-defence system. US forces left their bases in Niamey and the Agadez region, and the US Africa Command announced in September 2024 that the withdrawal was complete.
The junta and the war on the capital
The BBC and RFI reported that jihadists killed 90 soldiers and more than 40 civilians at Chatoumane, in the Téra department near Burkina Faso; a Western security source told AFP that 90 to 100 people died. The junta dismissed the reports as “baseless assertions” and suspended BBC radio for three months. AFP reported no claim of responsibility.
The junta and the war on the capital
During afternoon prayers on a Friday in Ramadan, gunmen surrounded the mosque in Fambita, in Kokorou commune, and opened fire on worshippers, then set fire to the market and homes. The authorities reported 44 dead and 13 wounded and blamed the Islamic State. Human Rights Watch says the group escalated its attacks on civilians in Niger from March 2025.
The junta and the war on the capital
Gunmen attacked worshippers at the mosque in Manda, in the Téra department, then looted and burned homes. The Global Terrorism Index counts 71 dead and 20 wounded; Human Rights Watch says more than 70 were killed. A security source in neighbouring Nigeria told AFP that no rescue mission was mounted by Niger's forces.
The junta and the war on the capital
On 6 January an apparent Nigerien military drone strike on a crowded market at Kokoloko, near the border with Burkina Faso, killed at least 17 civilians, Human Rights Watch found. On 18 January Islamic State Sahel fighters executed 31 men and boys in Bossieye village, in apparent retaliation for refusing to pay zakat and for joining militias backed by the army.
The junta and the war on the capital
About 40 fighters in two assault groups attacked Niamey's international airport and the adjoining air base with motorbikes, pick-up trucks, reconnaissance drones, small arms and mortars, destroying two light aircraft, a fighter jet and a helicopter, the UN Monitoring Team reported. The Islamic State claimed the attack. The authorities said 20 attackers were killed and four soldiers wounded.
The junta and the war on the capital
Attackers who arrived by taxi at a checkpoint fought for hours around Niamey's Diori Hamani airport and a neighbouring military base. The government said 11 soldiers, 2 civilians and 22 attackers were killed and about 20 suspects detained. Al-Qaeda's Sahel branch, JNIM, claimed “a suicide attack”. Both rival jihadist groups had now struck the capital within six months.
The junta and the war on the capital
A convoy of gendarmes was ambushed near Fartel, east of Abala, on 23 September, and an attack in Birni-N'Konni, near the Nigerian border, killed more than 30 soldiers three days later. Two security sources told Reuters that more than 50 members of the security forces died; Islamic State Sahel Province claimed both attacks.
Scroll or drag the timeline; use the arrow keys between events. Select an event for details, map and sources.
This map shows where the jihadist groups are documented in 2024–2026, department by department, as reported by the UN, ACLED, Human Rights Watch, Crisis Group and others. Colour shows the group; the fill shows how strong the evidence is. Only one source assigns territorial control to a named area of Niger: ACLED, for the Islamic State in rural Tillia, in 2024. Other sources describe jihadist control of the countryside in general terms, without naming departments. None names an area of Niger under JNIM control or documents JNIM collecting taxes there.
Islamic State Sahel · Territorial control · 2024Rural Tillia
ACLED reported in September 2024 that the Islamic State had gained control of most of rural Tillia, except the administrative capital. Later sources record continued attacks, among them the claimed assault on the Eknewan base in May 2025, but do not restate control.
Tillia
Islamic State Sahel · Area of influence · 2021–2026Abala and Ouallam: the Islamic State's heartland
Crisis Group documented zakat collected three kilometres from Abala town in 2024, and Human Rights Watch reported fighters demanding zakat around Ouallam in 2021. ACLED describes the Ménaka–Andéramboukane–Abala area as a core zone of the group, and the UN a sanctuary north of Niamey.
Abala · Ouallam
Islamic State Sahel · Documented activity · 2025–2026Banibangou and Ayérou, on the Malian border
Repeated Islamic State attacks on the army bases at Inatès and Banibangou, among them in June 2026, and incursions into Ayorou recorded by ACLED. The sources describe attacks here, not taxation.
Banibangou · Ayérou
Islamic State Sahel · Documented activity · 2023–2026Western Tahoua and the Filingué corridor
ACLED and the UN record recurrent Islamic State activity here. In September 2026 the group claimed an ambush on a gendarmerie convoy between Abala and Filingué. Two 2026 ambushes on the Bankilaré–Téra road were not claimed. The evidence for Loga is weaker.
Bankilaré · Filingué · Tahoua · Bagaroua · Loga · Tibiri
Lakurawa + Islamic State Sahel · Area of influence · 2020–2026Dogondoutchi and Birni-N'Konni, towards Nigeria
Crisis Group reported in 2021 that Islamic State fighters collected taxes here and sought territorial control rivalling the state's. The UN places Lakurawa bases in the Dosso and Tahoua regions. The Islamic State claimed the September 2026 attack in Birni-N'Konni. The tax evidence dates from 2020.
Dogondoutchi · Birni-N'Konni
JNIM + Islamic State Sahel · Documented activity · 2025–2026Central Tillabéri: both groups
The UN reported clashes between JNIM and the Islamic State in the Tillabéri region in late 2025, and the Islamic State claimed further clashes in Niger in 2026. The Islamic State is blamed for the Fambita, Manda and Bossieye massacres here; JNIM claimed the November 2025 attack near Garbougna.
Téra · Gothèye · Tillabéri · Kollo
JNIM · Documented activity · 2019–2026The south-west: Torodi, Park W and the river
JNIM attacks posts and patrols towards Burkina Faso and Benin, among them Makalondi in February 2026, and is suspected in the May 2025 attack on a river patrol in Falmey. The Africa Defense Forum, citing ACLED, describes JNIM as dominant in southern Tillabéri.
Torodi · Say · Boboye · Falmèy
JNIM + Islamic State Sahel · Documented activity · 2024–2026Southern Dosso
ACLED says the two groups overlap, especially in the communes of Gaya and Dioundiou, on the borders with Benin and Nigeria.
Gaya · Dioundiou · Dosso
JNIM · Documented activity · 2024–2025Near Assamaka
Two attacks near Assamaka, on the Algerian border, in October 2024 and September 2025, recorded by ACLED and attributed to JNIM. Low intensity.
Arlit
ISWAP · Documented activity · 2023–2026The Komadougou-Yobe river and Bosso
ISWAP attacks along the border river with Nigeria, among them a claimed attack on the Maïné-Soroa post in October 2025, and near Bosso, on the lake shore, according to ACLED data compiled by Belgium's CEDOCA. The UN reports ISWAP activity in the Diffa region without naming departments.
Diffa · Maïné-Soroa · Bosso
Boko Haram · Documented activity · 2023–2026N'Guigmi and the Lake Chad islands
The Boko Haram faction of Bakura Modu operates on the lake islands; the UN reported that he was possibly killed on Shilawa island, Diffa, in August 2025.
N'Guigmi
AQIM and MUJAO · Historical presence · 2010–2013AQIM and MUJAO in the north
The 2010 Arlit kidnapping (AQIM) and the 2013 Agadez and Arlit bombings (MUJAO). On this map Agadez town falls in the Tchirozérine department.
Arlit · Tchirozérine
Boko Haram · Historical presence · 2015–2016Boko Haram's first front
The 2015 attacks on Bosso and Diffa and the 2016 attack on Bosso, before ISWAP split from Boko Haram.
Diffa · Bosso
Islamic State Sahel · Historical presence · 2017–2021The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
Tongo Tongo (2017), Inatès (2019), Kouré (2020) and the 2021 massacres in Tillabéri and Tahoua, before the group became the Islamic State's Sahel Province.
Ouallam · Ayérou · Banibangou · Tillia · Kollo
Lakurawa is drawn with the Islamic State Sahel because the UN and ACLED treat it as linked to that group; the Institute for Security Studies traces part of it to former fighters of the Macina Liberation Front, now part of JNIM. The 2010–2013 northern zone shows al-Qaeda's earlier groups, whose members later split between JNIM and the Islamic State.
Each map shows the places of the events of one phase in colour, and those of earlier phases in grey. They show the reach of the conflict, not territorial control; the territorial map above shows where the groups operate.
Tolls are the figures given by the cited sources; where counts differ, the competing figures are given. Since the 2023 coup the authorities have released information sparingly, suspended several international media and denied at least one attack reported by the international press, so most recent figures cannot be verified independently.
The Islamic State Sahel, formerly the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) are two branches of the Islamic State; JNIM is al-Qaeda's Sahel branch. Boko Haram (JAS) is the original Nigerian group from which ISWAP split. The UN treats Lakurawa as linked to the Islamic State Sahel.
Zarma (Djerma), Tuareg and Fulani (Peul) communities have all been targeted. Human Rights Watch found that the victims of the 2021 massacres were mostly Zarma and Tuareg, and that most of those killed by the security forces in 2019 and 2020 were Fulani.
Terrorism, here, means violence by a non-state group against civilians or symbolic targets to intimidate a population or pressure a government. Attacks on army and gendarmerie posts are recorded as insurgency. Killings of civilians by the army or militias are recorded as abuses, with the responsible party named, and are not labelled terrorism.
Niger shares its armed groups and its recent history with its neighbours. These links point to documented connections, not to a single causal story.
Visual Timelines · MaliMali: from the 2012 rebellion to the siege of BamakoMUJAO claimed the 2013 Agadez and Arlit bombings as retaliation for Niger's role in the Mali war. The Islamic State's Sahel branch operates on both sides of the Ménaka–Tillabéri border.
Visual Timelines · Burkina FasoBurkina Faso: from the first attacks of 2015 to a divided countryJNIM and the Islamic State fight over the same borderlands around Téra. Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, all under military rule, formed the Alliance of Sahel States in 2023 and made it a confederation in July 2024.
Visual Timelines · NigeriaNigeria: from Boko Haram to ISWAPBoko Haram crossed into Diffa from Nigeria in 2015. The UN says ISWAP played a key role in preparing the January 2026 attack on Niamey airport, and Lakurawa operates on both sides of the border.Every event rests on at least one identified document. Links open the original source; certainty labels follow the portal's source and confidence criteria.
1 · A UN envoy taken near Niamey
In 2013 the AP found a letter in Mali in which AQIM's leaders complained that Mokhtar Belmokhtar had traded the case for 700,000 euros. All those involved in the release denied that any payment was made.
Photo: Roland Hunziker (Flickr "rolandh") · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 · original
2 · Seven taken in the uranium town
Places: Arlit
Four of the French hostages were released on 29 October 2013, after three years in captivity, the UN reported. The UN Secretary-General wrote that the kidnapping prompted closer regional cooperation against terrorism and organised crime.
Photo: NigerTZai · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
3 · Kidnapped in the capital
Places: Niamey
Uncertainty: The sources consulted do not establish whether the hostages were killed by their captors or in the fighting.
That year the UN reported that the return of armed elements from Libya was adding to insecurity in the Sahel, especially in Mali and Niger.
Photo: Roland Hunziker (Flickr "rolandh") · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 · original
4 · Suicide bombers in Agadez and Arlit
Places: Agadez · Arlit
On 1 June an armed escape from Niamey's civil prison killed three guards, according to officials quoted by Al Jazeera; the government blamed detainees prosecuted for terrorism and Belmokhtar's brigade claimed it. The UN later attributed the Arlit attack to al-Mourabitoun, the group formed in August 2013 when Belmokhtar's al-Mulathamun merged with MUJAO.
Photo: Vincent van Zeijst · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
5 · Boko Haram crosses into Diffa
Places: Bosso · Diffa
On 25 April fighters in motorised canoes attacked the army position on Karamga island in Lake Chad, killing at least 50 soldiers according to the UN; Reuters later counted 74 dead, including 28 civilians. The government then ordered the evacuation of all inhabited islands.
Photo: U.S. Army / SFC Jessica Inigo · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · original
6 · Bosso overrun
Places: Bosso
More than 1,400 suspected Boko Haram members, most arrested in the Diffa region, were in prison, most in lengthy pre-trial detention and at risk of torture, Amnesty International reported. The UN estimated that almost 500,000 people there needed assistance.
Photo: VOA / Nicolas Pinault · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · original
7 · The Islamic State turns to Niger
Uncertainty: The sources describe the Tazalit attackers as unidentified; a UN member state told the Monitoring Team that recent attacks in Niger could be attributed to al-Sahraoui's faction. The UN dates the Koutoukalé attack to 16 October.
Days before the Koutoukalé attack, gunmen kidnapped the American aid worker Jeffery Woodke in Abalak, Tahoua region, killing his guards; he was released in March 2023. The MUJAO spokesman who claimed the 2013 Agadez and Arlit bombings had been named as Abu Walid Sahraoui.
Photo: Ibrahimassoumane · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
8 · The Tongo Tongo ambush
Places: Tongo Tongo
A US military investigation found failures in planning, training and mission approval. Since March 2017 seven departments along the Malian border had been under a state of emergency. The United States designated ISGS a terrorist organisation in May 2018.
Photo: U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Coleman · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · original
9 · Inatès and Chinagodrar: two bases overrun
Places: Inatès
The government's first toll for Chinagodrar was 25 soldiers; security sources told Reuters that at least 89 had been buried in Niamey and the real figure could be higher. One UN report dates the Inatès attack to 11 December. Chinagodrar has no reliable coordinates and is not mapped.
Photo: Faride.boureima · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
10 · 102 people disappeared
Places: Inatès · Ayorou
Uncertainty: The government denies responsibility. An earlier military inquiry found no credible evidence against soldiers and suggested that jihadists had worn stolen uniforms, Human Rights Watch reported.
According to local sources cited by Crisis Group, most of the 102 missing were Tuareg and Daosahak. Human Rights Watch found that most of those killed by the security forces in 2019 and 2020 were Fulani (Peul). Crisis Group wrote that operations by Niger and France's Barkhane force alongside Malian Tuareg and Daosahak militias in 2017–2018 were widely perceived as an ethnic campaign against the Fulani.
Photo: NASA JSC Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · original
11 · Aid workers killed at Kouré
Places: Kouré
In December 2021 France said it had killed Soumana Boura, who it said had filmed the killings. ISGS's leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, was killed on 16 August 2021 in operations involving France's Barkhane force, the UN reported.
Photo: Barke11 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
12 · Toumour burned
Places: Toumour
Photo: VOA / Nicolas Pinault · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · original
13 · Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumdareye
Uncertainty: No group claimed the attack. A former minister from the area said it was revenge for the lynching of two fighters by villagers. The villages have no reliable coordinates and are not mapped.
It opened a year of escalating attacks on civilians in south-western Niger: by early November 2021 armed groups had killed more than 530 people in attacks on civilians, over five times more than in all of 2020, according to ACLED data cited by Al Jazeera.
Photo: Barke11 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
14 · Traders executed on the market road
Places: Banibangou
Uncertainty: No group claimed the killings; Human Rights Watch attributes them to armed Islamist fighters.
Photo: Lars Rosendahl Appelquist · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
15 · The Tillia massacre
Uncertainty: The government blamed “armed bandits”. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that most of the fighters were linked to the Islamic State; no claim was found. The villages are not mapped.
The same day the Constitutional Court confirmed Mohamed Bazoum's election. An attempted coup was put down on 31 March, and Bazoum took office on 2 April, the UN reported.
Photo: Barke11 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
16 · The coup
Places: Niamey
In March 2025 a transition charter replaced the constitution, set a transition that can be extended depending on the security situation, dissolved all political parties and granted amnesty to those who took part in the coup, International IDEA reported.
Photo: European Commission / Bogdan Hoyaux · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 · original
17 · The deadliest attack after the coup
Uncertainty: The ministry did not name the group responsible. Tabatol has no reliable coordinates and is not mapped.
Photo: Barke11 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
18 · French and US forces leave
Places: Niamey · Agadez
In April 2022, under President Bazoum, parliament had voted 131 to 31 to host French and European forces leaving Mali. Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso formed the Alliance of Sahel States, a confederation since July 2024, and left ECOWAS in January 2025.
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense (DVIDS) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · original
19 · An attack the junta denied
Places: Chatoumane
Uncertainty: The government denies the reports and no independent toll exists.
Days later, on 14 December, the defence ministry reported 21 people killed in Libiri and 18 in Kokorou, including children.
Photo: Djida jida · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
20 · Massacre at Friday prayers
Places: Kokorou
Uncertainty: No group claimed the attack. The government blamed the Islamic State; Human Rights Watch attributes it to Islamic State Sahel on the basis of witness accounts.
The marker shows Kokorou, the commune: Fambita has no separate coordinates.
Photo: maazou6 @ Mapillary · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
21 · Manda: more than 70 killed at a mosque
Uncertainty: No group claimed the attack. Human Rights Watch attributes it to the Islamic State Sahel on the basis of witness accounts and dates it 21 June. Manda is not mapped: two villages share the name.
The day before, several hundred fighters attacked the army base at Banibangou, killing 34 soldiers, the defence ministry said; the Islamic State claimed it.
Photo: Lars Rosendahl Appelquist · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
22 · Civilians between drones and the Islamic State
Places: Kokoloko
Uncertainty: The junta did not comment on the Kokoloko strike; Human Rights Watch says three unarmed Islamic State fighters were in the market. The Bossieye account rests on witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
ACLED data, analysed by ACAPS, rank the Islamic State Sahel first and the state forces second among those responsible for recorded deaths in Tillabéri in 2025.
Photo: JIRCAS Library · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · original
23 · The Islamic State strikes Niamey airport
Places: Niamey
The UN Monitoring Team reported that the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) played a key role in preparing the operation. RFI noted that the violence had reached Niamey airport for the first time.
Photo: Barke11 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
24 · JNIM strikes the airport too
Places: Niamey
On 29 August renegade soldiers attacked the airport's military base, the state broadcaster and the presidential palace; the government said it had contained the mutiny.
Photo: Ibrahimassoumane · Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · original
25 · The Islamic State pushes south and east
Places: Abala · Birni-N'Konni
Uncertainty: The government acknowledged only “several soldiers” killed at Fartel; the overall toll comes from security sources.
Analysts and security sources told Reuters that frustration was growing in frontline units after repeated losses. On 21 October 2026 officials said that an Austrian woman kidnapped in Agadez in January 2025 and a Swiss woman taken in April 2025 had been freed and had reached Benghazi.
Photo: fatima @ Mapillary.com · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
Events were selected for the change they mark in the war — in the groups' reach and organisation, in the state's response, in foreign involvement or in the harm done to civilians — rather than for their death toll alone. Each rests on at least one primary or independent source: UN Security Council and Secretary-General documents and the UN Monitoring Team; Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Niger's national human rights commission; ACLED, ACAPS and the Global Terrorism Index; Crisis Group; official statements; and reporting by Al Jazeera, AFP, Reuters, AP, the BBC, RFI and others.
Figures are given only when an identified source publishes them; claims by the government and armed groups are labelled as such. Where sources disagree on a date, a toll or the group responsible, the entry says so. Places without reliable coordinates are not mapped. The territorial map aggregates departments named by the sources and gives each zone its sources and evidence level. Information is current to 23 October 2026.
