Tag Archives: Niger

One hundred French military anti-terror specialists have landed in Niger to aid authorities in freeing five French nationals abducted last Thursday. The soldiers entered Niger after a 25-year absence as officials gave consent for the French to deploy “personnel” and “aircraft” to free the hostages. This deployment comes after a French government spokesman pledged that […]

The French nuclear firm Areva and construction company Vinci are pulling their foreign staff from northern Niger in response to the suspected Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb kidnappings. France believes the five hostages have been moved from Niger to Mali.

Five French nationals and two African nationals working for the nuclear company Areva and a subcontracter of the French construction company Vinci have been kidnapped from their companies staff compound in the northern town of Arlit. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb-linked mercenaries are being blamed for the abductions. Taureg rebels have kidnapped French workers […]

Photos have been released of the French and Algerian nationals abducted by elements of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb near Inabangaret, Niger. Michel Germaneau is retired and president of an association in northern Niger. Ouaghi Abidin is from Tamanrasset, the location of the new joint anti-terror headquarters for Saharan states. AQIM has not yet […]

A French tourist and his Algerian driver have been kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in northern Niger, near the border of Mali and Algeria. They were seized near Tiguidan Tessoun. The tourist had not declared his travel itinerary to security forces. The French government is investigating the abduction.

Suspected Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters have attacked a Nigerian military outpost along the border with Mali. At least five Nigerian soldiers were killed and wounded along with three assailants in the attack in the Tilwa Banibangou area before the fighters retreated into Mali.

President Mamadou Tandja has been overthrown in a coup by a group dubbed the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD). The men, presented as military officers, seized Tandja at his weekly cabinet meeting and have taken him to a nearby military barracks in the capital, Niamey. The coup risks further undermining the political […]

Clashes near the Mali border between Niger authorities and an unidentified group have left nine gunmen, seven Niger soldiers, and a civilian dead. The authorities captured vehicles, guns, and ammunition. The clashes come days after two gunmen were killed by authorities. The crackdown on rebels and bandits was prompted by the attempted kidnapping of six […]

Three undisclosed people suspected of being involved in the attack on six Saudi tourists in the western town of Djambala, Niger, have been detained by authorities.The six Saudi tourists along with two Malians were traveling to Mali when they were attacked by unidentified gunmen, leaving three of the Saudi tourists dead and three seriously injured.

Unidentified gunmen have killed three Saudi tourists and wounded three others in Niger. The three wounded tourists were taken to a hospital in Niamey. The attack happened near a village called Djambala, near the Mali border, where Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Taureg rebels are known to operate. The six Saudi tourists were […]

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb posted photographs of four of the six Western hostages currently being held by the terror group. Shown were the four vacationers kidnapped in Mali; the two Canadian diplomats kidnapped in Niger have not been shown.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the December 2008 kidnappings of two Canadian diplomats and the January 2009 kidnappings of four European tourists. “We announce to the general public that the mujahideen reserve the right to deal with the six kidnapped according to Islamic Shariah law,” a spokesman said in a videotape.