From ... in Warfare Genocide History — Sep 10, 2025

Niger: Islamist Armed Group Executes Civilians, Burns Homes

(Nairobi) – The Islamist armed group Islamic State in the Sahel Province (IS Sahel) has escalated attacks on civilians in Niger since March 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks violated international humanitarian law and are app

(Nairobi) – The Islamist armed group Islamic State in the Sahel Province (IS Sahel) has escalated attacks on civilians in Niger since March 2025, Human Rights Watch said today.

The attacks violated international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes. In at least five attacks across Niger’s western Tillabéri region that Human Rights Watch documented, IS Sahel summarily executed over 127 villagers and Muslim worshipers, and burned and looted dozens of homes. Witnesses said the Nigerien army did not adequately respond to warnings of attacks, ignoring villagers’ requests for protection. Protection strategies for residents in the region should be urgently overhauled to deter future attacks and create more responsive warning systems. “Islamist armed groups are targeting the civilian population in western Niger and committing horrific abuses,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Nigerien authorities need to do more to protect people living in the Tillabéri region.” The Tillabéri region borders the countries of Burkina Faso and Mali, where government forces have been fighting Islamist armed groups for over a decade.

The area has been a focal point of IS Sahel activity in Niger for a decade, as well for government counterinsurgency operations. Since 2019, Islamist armed groups allied with the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda have escalated attacks against military targets and civilians in the so-called tri-border area.

These groups have also destroyed schools and religious sites, and imposed severe restrictions based on their interpretation of Islam. From May to July 2025, Human Rights Watch remotely interviewed 28 people, including 19 witnesses and 9 local activists, journalists, and physicians. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Niger justice minister on August 19, sharing research findings and requesting information on the government’s steps to enhance the protection of civilians.

The justice minister did not respond. No armed group has claimed responsibility for the five attacks that Human Rights Watch documented. However, witnesses said they believed the attackers were members of IS Sahel based on the villages targeted and the attackers’ attire, including turbans with red bands similar to those the armed group wore during previous attacks. Residents also said that prior to each attack, IS Sahel fighters had threatened their communities, accusing them of collaborating with the Nigerien army or disregarding the fighters’ demands. On June 21, IS Sahel fighters opened fire on worshipers in a mosque in Manda village, killing over 70 and injuring at least 20. “The scene was chilling,” said a 77-year-old woman who lost three sons in the attack. “There were bodies everywhere, one on top of the other.

There were bodies inside and outside the mosque.

The wounded were screaming and bleeding.” On May 13, IS Sahel fighters attacked the hamlet of Dani Fari and killed five men and two boys, and burned at least a dozen homes. A herder said: “The bodies were scattered ... riddled with bullets.

There wasn’t a single body out there that had fewer than three bullet holes.

The bullets had hit people in the back, arms, head.... We found the bodies of the two children lying on their backs.” Niger’s military junta has been in power since July 26, 2023, when army officers of the self-proclaimed National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie), led by Brig. Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, overthrew and detained the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

They cited the deteriorating security situation as one of the reasons for toppling Bazoum and promised to restore security in areas affected by Islamist armed groups.

The nongovernmental organization Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) has reported that since the coup, though, IS Sahel has killed about 1,600 civilians.

The junta security forces have conducted large counterinsurgency operations, including airstrikes, against the Islamist armed groups in conflict-affected areas. On August 3, the junta began an initiative known in the Hausa language as “Garkuwar Kassa” (Shields of the Homeland), aimed at recruiting and training civilians to assist the armed forces. But that has raised concerns among human rights groups about creating abusive militias. Human Rights Watch has previously reported on abuses by Islamist armed groups in Niger, including the killing of hundreds of civilians in 2021. Human Rights Watch also documented abuses by Niger’s security forces in 2021, including killings and enforced disappearances during counterinsurgency operations, and the junta’s crackdown on the political opposition, media, and peaceful dissent. All parties to Niger’s armed conflict are bound by Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary laws of war. International humanitarian law prohibits attacking civilians, mistreating anyone in custody, and burning and looting civilian property. Individuals who order, commit, or assist serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent may be prosecuted for war crimes.

The Niger government has an obligation to investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged war crimes committed within its territory. “Civilians threatened by Islamist armed groups are calling on Niger’s junta to provide greater protection,” Allegrozzi said. “The government should take urgent steps to deter future atrocities, investigate serious abuses by IS Sahel and other armed groups, and bring those responsible to account based on international fair trial standards.” For detailed accounts of the attacks, please see below. Fambita, Tillabéri Region, March 21, 2025 On March 21, IS Sahel fighters attacked a mosque in Fambita village, killing at least 46 worshippers, including 3 children, who were attending the afternoon prayer, and injuring at least 12 others.

They also looted livestock and homes in the village and burned at least 20 homes, as well as several shops at the market. Fambita is in the rural Kokorou commune, where IS Sahel operates and carries out attacks against security forces and civilians. Witnesses identified the assailants as IS Sahel fighters because they wore turbans with red bands and because, weeks before the attack, IS Sahel fighters had threatened to attack Fambita residents, accusing them of collaborating with the army. A 71-year-old man said that three months before the attack, he attended a meeting with the Fambita chief who called on villagers to collaborate with the military. He said the chief: Told us that the military told him that the only way to get rid of the jihadists in our area was to train and arm residents to work alongside the military.... I stood up and told the chief that we had a deal with the jihadists for the past five years and if they learned that we were collaborating with the military, they would retaliate against us. But the chief reassured us that ... everything would be done discreetly. However, the jihadists were quickly informed and here are the consequences. Witnesses said that the fighters stormed the mosque at about 2 p.m., shooting randomly at worshippers. “The imam had preached for about 30 minutes ... when shooting began,” a 36-year-old man said. “I heard gunshots and shouts of ‘Allah Akbar!’ and ran toward the exit as people fell in front of me and others screamed in panic.” Another man, 61, who lost his three boys, 10, 12, and 15, in the attack said: “I was holding my youngest son’s hand when shooting began. As we crossed the doorway of the mosque, he was hit by bullets and fell. Others fell too like bugs sprayed with insecticide.” The man said he ran away to the nearby bush where he rested under an acacia tree until about 6 p.m. when he returned to the mosque. He added: I found a macabre scene. Wounded people screaming and rolling on the ground in pain.

There were more than 40 bodies piled up. Among them, those of my two boys.... I immediately pulled them out from the other bodies, covered them with a cloth, until some family members came to help me take them to the cemetery where I buried them. Residents said that, except for the three boys, who were buried in three graves the same day, and 10 other bodies that were buried at the mosque, the remaining 33 bodies were all buried the day after the attack in a mass grave at the Fambita cemetery.

The villagers provided a list with the names of the 46 victims, ages 10 to 74. Residents also said that IS Sahel fighters set fire to dozens of homes and shops at the market. “My home is gone, it was completely burned,” the 71-year-old man said. “The jihadists also took all my animals.” Fire detection data provided by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System showed active fires over Fambita on March 21. Low-resolution satellite imagery from the day after analyzed by Human Rights Watch shows a large burn mark over the market area. Witnesses said the army did not intervene during the attack. “Soldiers came three days later just to assess the situation,” the 61-year-old man said. “There were Malian and Burkinabè soldiers alongside with our soldiers, they came from Tillabéri.” On March 21, the government released a statement condemning the attack by IS Sahel in Fambita and declared three days of national mourning. On March 25, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, also condemned the attack “in stark violation of international human rights law and humanitarian law,” and called for “an impartial investigation ... to bring those responsible to justice.” Dani Fari, Tillabéri Region, May 13, 2025 On May 13, IS Sahel fighters attacked Dani Fari, an ethnic Zarma hamlet, and killed five men and two boys.

They also burned at least 12 homes and looted dozens of others. Dani Fari is about 20 kilometers from the town of Tillabéri, in an area where both the IS Sahel and the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, JNIM) operate. Witnesses identified the assailants as IS Sahel fighters because they wore turbans with red bands and because, a week earlier, IS Sahel had threatened to attack Dani Fari residents, accusing them of collaborating with the army. A 42-year-old herder said: All those who had an Android phone got the voice message on WhatsApp and shared it with the rest of the population. You could hear someone, claiming to be from the IS Sahel, saying that our hamlet was complicit with the military, that our community had joined the militias and provided information to the military about the positions of the jihadists and that they [IS Sahel fighters] would come for us. Residents said that some members of the Zarma community had joined local self-defense groups because they felt that the government had failed to adequately protect their villages and property from the Islamist armed groups. However, they believed only a few young men in Dani Fari had joined such groups.

They said that residents had alerted the military in Tillabéri after they had received the IS Sahel threats and sought the military’s protection. However, the soldiers only intervened when the assailants had gone. “We told [the military] that an attack was in the making, that we needed protection,” a 38-year-old man said. “But they came when the hamlet had already been looted, houses burned, and people killed.” Witnesses said that on May 13, scores of IS Sahel fighters riding motorbikes stormed the hamlet at about 5 a.m., shooting and yelling “Allah Akbar” (God is great), causing people to flee.

The herder said: I was preparing for the morning prayer when I heard gunshots. One after the other, they got closer and closer. I just ran with my family toward the bush...

The shooting lasted until about 8 a.m. From our hiding place, we saw flames coming out of our hamlet, and we knew that all our property had been destroyed. Witnesses said that most Dani Fari residents returned to the hamlet the same day, after soldiers from the Tillabéri military base arrived around 4 p.m. to assess the situation. Residents said that when they returned to Dani Fari, they found the bodies of five civilian men and two boys, that all homes in the hamlet had been looted, and at least 12 burned.

The 38-year-old man said: It was distressing.

There were bodies on the ground, burned houses, smoke. My hut, made of goat skin, and my shed had been burned.... My animals were gone, goats, sheep, donkeys.

They took everything.

There was nothing left in the hamlet.

They looted homes, taking everything that was useful, including millet and rice. Residents provided a list with the names of the seven people killed, including five men, ages 37 to 61, and two boys, ages 10 and 12. Manda, Tillabéri Region, June 21, 2025 On June 21, Islamist fighters attacked a mosque in Manda village, killing over 70 worshippers, including two women and five children, who were attending the morning prayer, and injuring at least 20 others.

They also looted homes in the village and burned at least 10 of them. Manda is in the rural Gorouol commune, where both JNIM and IS Sahel operate and carry out attacks against security forces and civilians. Residents believed the assailants belonged to IS Sahel because the armed group had carried out attacks against religious sites in the past, both in Niger and in neighboring Burkina Faso.

The authorities did not publicly react after the massacre in Manda, leading to an outcry by residents. On June 29, a group of people from Gorouol area issued a statement deploring the “inexplicable silence” of the authorities who “did not provide any moral” assistance and very limited material support to the victims and their families. Witnesses said that before the June 21 attack, IS Sahel fighters had threatened to attack Manda residents, accusing them of collaborating with the army.

They said that the evening before the attack, IS Sahel fighters went to Manda and accused residents gathered at the mosque of being “infidels” and providing information to the military. “This upset us,” said a 59-year-old man. “We told them that we had been living with them [IS Sahel] for many years and that such accusations weren’t true.” “We told them that they themselves control the village and that they should be able to know who the army informants are and who are not, instead of accusing all the villagers,” another man, 64, said. “Conversations were tense, and they left, but we knew they were angry.” Witnesses said that the fighters returned to Manda the following day at 5 a.m. and stormed the mosque, shooting indiscriminately at civilians as they fled or took cover. Another resident who survived the attack at the mosque, said: They opened fire on everyone.

They sprayed us with bullets from their Kalashnikovs [assault rifles]...

The mosque was full. I was able to escape but many were killed.... People ran everywhere, screaming, falling on the ground. My son was killed, and I lost eight other family members. A man, 67, said: The imam was preaching when shooting began...

The worshipers rushed to the door, and the assailants were there. People started falling on the ground.... I was the fourth in a row, and I was able to escape; I don’t even know how. But most of the people there were killed.

The attackers sprayed with bullets all those who were inside the mosque, as well as all those who tried to flee. A woman, 77, said one of her sons, 25, died during the attack, while two others, 30 and 33, were severely injured. She said she rushed to the mosque by motorbike at about 10 a.m. to evacuate her two injured sons to the nearest health facility in Ayorou, 54 kilometers away. She said: The driver loaded them onto his three-wheeled motorbike and also decided to take three other men who had been injured. My children were bleeding. One was bleeding from the chest.

The other had a bullet wound in his back that was spilling a lot of blood.

They were dying. My husband had torn his boubou [loose-fitting garment] to tie the wounds ... but they were bleeding so profusely that the boubou was completely soaked with blood.... Before reaching Ayorou, my children passed away.... When we arrived at the health center, we let the three other injured get out, and we continued straight to the cemetery. Witnesses said that when the attack ended, at about 8:30 a.m., survivors went to the mosque to help evacuate the injured, and collect and bury the dead. A 59-year-old man who lost three brothers – ages 51, 54, and 57 – in the attack, said: We found total desolation ... dead people everywhere, bodies piled up.

There were about 20 injured, of whom at least 10 were in critical condition.

They could not move; they were barely breathing and were bleeding. We helped each other. We brought the wounded out of the mosque and loaded them onto motorbikes for evacuation. All my brothers were already dead...

There was no collective burial ... everyone buried their family members. People were afraid to gather, they thought that if there was a collective burial, it could attract the attackers again and lead to another massacre. I took my three brothers and buried them in a mass grave at the Manda cemetery.

The 67-year-old man said that when he returned to the scene, “There were dead bodies everywhere,” mostly inside the mosque, but also outside. “I estimate the death toll at more than 70,” he said. “My eldest son was shot in his legs and back.

The bullets went through his ribs. He lost a lot of blood. He died before reaching the hospital.” Residents provided a list with the names of 71 victims, including two women, ages 30 and 45, five children, ages 14 to 16, and 64 men, ages 19 to 92. Witnesses said they found that the village had been looted and at least 10 homes and sheds burned. Manda residents said they had alerted the army about the IS Sahel threats against the village a week before the attack, but soldiers did not respond and only came three days after the attack to assess the damage.

The 67-year-old man said: The army knew. A week before [the attack], the jihadists circulated a voice message on WhatsApp accusing us of being spies.

They said they would kill us. So, we alerted the army.

The village chief informed the army. But soldiers did not come. Some soldiers from the Ayorou and Tillabéri bases only came three days after the attack, when people had already managed to bury their dead and evacuate the wounded. Abarkaize, Tillabéri Region, June 20 and 23, 2025 On June 20, IS Sahel fighters entered the hamlet of Abarkaize and executed its 67-year-old chief. Three days later, they returned and kidnapped five men. Residents found the bodies of the five men, their throats slit, at the outskirts of the hamlet on June 23. Abarkaize, a hamlet populated by ethnic Zarma, Tamasheq, Fulani, and Hausa, is in an area where both the IS Sahel and JNIM are present. Witnesses said they believed the assailants belonged to IS Sahel because the armed group had previously threatened the chief and that IS Sahel fighters executed the chief because he had refused to require the members of his community pay the zakat (Islamic tax). “The jihadists came three times before they killed the chief and every time, they asked him to collect the zakat among the community and give it to them,” a 39-year-old man said. “But he refused because he was afraid that the military would accuse him of collaborating with the jihadists.” A man, 45, said that on June 20 at about 5 p.m., he saw IS Sahel fighters on motorbikes heading toward the chief’s home and that minutes later, he heard gunshots and “ran away out of fear.” He said that when he returned to the hamlet, he found the body of the chief “with a bullet in the head.” On June 23, the IS Sahel fighters returned to Abarkaize at about 1 a.m. A man, 59, said: I was awakened by heavy gunfire and shouts of “Allah Akabar.” I immediately fled to the bush with my family...

The next morning, when we returned to the hamlet, we found that five people were missing. We started looking for them until we found their bodies, lined up one after the other, three kilometers from Abarkaize.

They had their throats slit. We buried them in a mass grave and left. Residents believe the fighters killed the five men to punish the community for not paying the zakat.

They provided a list with the names of the victims, all ethnic Zarma men, ages 19 to 57. Witnesses said the army, which has a base in Ayorou, about 25 kilometers from Abarkaize, did not respond to the attack, or visit the hamlet in its aftermath. “The military did not intervene and when we reached Ayorou, after we abandoned the hamlet, they actually stopped and searched us,” the 45-year-old man said. “They didn’t want us to pass because they said we are from Abarkaize, which is a hamlet ‘full of terrorists.’” Ezzak, Tillabéri Region, June 23, 2025 On June 23, IS Sahel fighters killed at least six civilian men in the hamlet of Ezzak, looted homes, and burned at least nine. Residents believed the attack was a reprisal against the local community, whose members the fighters accused of collaborating with the army. Ezzak, a hamlet populated by various ethnic groups including Zarma, Tamasheq, and Hausa, is in the rural commune of Bankilaré where both IS Sahel and JNIM have been present for at least five years. Residents said IS-Sahel controlled Ezzak, imposed Sharia (Islamic law), and collected the zakat. Credible sources and the media reported that in March, April, and May, the Nigerien military carried out several counterinsurgency operations, including airstrikes, in the Bankilaré area targeting IS Sahel positions. “That’s why they attacked us,” said a 56-year-old man. “They accused us of providing information to the military about their positions.” The attack in Ezzak appeared to be part of a larger IS Sahel operation in Bankilaré area that targeted several hamlets, including Tatararat, Tarjarmourghatt, and Addas, leading to the killing of at least 28 civilians. Human Rights Watch has not documented these attacks. A herder, 48, said that on June 23 he was in his field when, at about 4 p.m., he saw a group of armed men wearing turbans with red bands walking toward his brother, who was about 100 meters away from him. He said: I thought the jihadists were just going to talk to my brother.... But then, I saw my brother making gestures and lifting his hands in the air ... and then one of the jihadists pointed his Kalashnikov at my brother's head and shot. He fell, and I ran away.

The attackers chased me, shooting at me, but they didn’t get me. Another man, 55, said he was home when he heard gunshots and shouts: I went out and saw from far a group of jihadists shooting and yelling “Allah Akbar.” I ran away as fast as I could with many other residents. We spent the night in the bush, frightened and desperate.... We could see smoke and flames coming out from the hamlet. Witnesses said that when the attack began, all residents fled to the nearby bush and only returned the following day. “We found six bodies, including my brother,” the 48-year-old man said. “Four in the fields and two in their homes.

They had all been shot in the head.... We dug a hole and put all the bodies inside before abandoning the hamlet.” Residents provided a list with the name of the six victims, all men, ages 35 to 65.

The 56-year-old man said that his home had been looted, like all other homes in the hamlet: “They took everything, including food and also burned at least nine huts.” Witnesses said that almost all residents fled after the attack, seeking protection across the border in Mali or elsewhere in Niger.

They said the Nigerien army, which has a base in Ayorou, about 25 kilometers from Ezzak, did not respond after the attack. “No soldiers came to help us,” the 55-year-old man said. “And even worse, the military doesn’t trust us.

They consider us as collaborators of the jihadists because we live in an area controlled by the jihadists.” The 48-year-old man said: When I fled Ezzak, I went to Ayorou with my family, and soldiers stopped us at a checkpoint and asked us where we were going. I told them that my brother had been murdered by the terrorists and that our hamlet had been attacked and people massacred. But the military told me that I was lying, that we collaborate with terrorists and that, when things are not going well with them [terrorists], we leave and spy on their positions for the military. When they told me that, I lost all hope.

They made me pay 20,000 CFA (US$35) at the checkpoint to pass.

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Niger: Islamist Armed Group Executes Civilians, Burns Homes

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