Non-international armed conflicts in Niger

In Niger, the protection owed to medical personnel under IHL was breached by an ISSP attack on a health centre in Téra, during which two unarmed health workers were killed. Such violence against medical personnel breaches the obligation to respect and protect them and may amount to war crimes. The incident occurred amid broader insecurity affecting medical units, medical staff and other humanitarian workers, compounded by growing hostility towards the aid sector linked to false information circulating on social media.

Use of Landmines and other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)

In Niger, improvised anti-personnel mines used by non-State armed groups continued to endanger civilians and raised concerns about compliance with IHL rules on the conduct of hostilities. When emplaced in populated areas or places regularly used by civilians, such devices may have indiscriminate effects and violate distinction where not directed at specific military objectives, as well as precautions in attack where feasible measures are not taken to limit civilian harm. Niger, as a State Party to the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, is prohibited from using anti-personnel mines and must clear and destroy all such mines on its territory as soon as possible. While the Convention does not directly bind armed groups, they remain bound by customary IHL, and Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons binds all parties and prohibits indiscriminate use while requiring feasible precautions. Limited clearance progress since 2020 has prompted concerns about Niger’s compliance with its treaty obligations.

In Niger, forced displacement reached high levels amid two NIACs, with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons and large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Nigeria and Mali. Customary IHL prohibits ordering displacement unless required for civilians’ security or imperative military reasons and requires that any displacement remains temporary, meets basic needs, and preserves family unity, with breaches potentially constituting war crimes. Testimonies attribute displacement drivers to ISSP and JNIM attacks on villages involving killings, destruction of homes, and seizure of belongings, generating fear and flight, including for women and children. Displacement is assessed as often occurring under duress and threats, with the cumulative violence and property destruction amounting to unlawful forced displacement. Concerns also arise regarding Niger’s inadequate response to growing displacement, with compounding factors leaving many households without safe shelter, food, or medical care and potentially raising IHL and international human rights law issues.

In Niger, schools were repeatedly attacked, with ISSP identified as a principal perpetrator. The recurring threat of violence against schools, teachers, and students led to widespread school closures.

Attacks against Health Facilities

Medical units and transports are protected under IHL, and attacks against them may constitute war crimes. In Niger, medical facilities were repeatedly attacked, particularly in Tillabéri, most often through ISSP fighters burning or firing upon hospitals and other health infrastructure. One reported incident was instead attributed to Nigerien armed forces, involving a drone strike on a health facility in Tillabéri. These attacks occurred amid a growing hostile climate toward humanitarian and health actors, fuelled by false information circulated on social media. Government decisions reportedly compelled an increasing number of humanitarian and health organizations to cease operations, aggravating an already severe health crisis for the civilian population.

Along the Niger-Burkina Faso border, ISSP reportedly repeatedly attacked convoys supplying the Nigerien population, burning trucks and firing on Nigerien soldiers escorting the vehicles. One reported incident linked to an ISSP attack on goods transported from the Tera market resulted in twenty-one civilian deaths. Transport workers also raised concerns that drivers are routinely targeted on these routes. Humanitarian organizations were further compelled by Nigerien authorities to cease working on the basis of an allegedly false allegation that they supported non-State armed groups. Under IHL, parties must facilitate impartial humanitarian assistance, and military escorts do not, as such, turn civilian convoys into military objectives. Any attacks must therefore comply with proportionality and feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm, while Nigerien forces must take feasible measures to protect civilians during escort operations.

In south-western Niger, ISSP attacked a mosque in Kokorou during Ramadan while civilians gathered to pray. Testimonies describe fighters surrounding the mosque before assaulting it, resulting in large-scale civilian killings. No information suggests that the mosque was used to contribute to Niger’s military action or that Nigerien armed forces were operating from the site against ISSP. Absent such military use, the strike amounts to a serious IHL violation, breaching distinction and the special protection afforded to religious property.

In Niger, abductions attributed to ISSP were described as potentially involving inhuman or degrading treatment. Where abduction was followed by death, the conduct was characterized as likely also amounting to torture or other ill-treatment.

Under IHL, any deprivation of liberty must be lawful, non-arbitrary, and carried out with appropriate legal safeguards. Detainees must be treated humanely, with an absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, and access ensured to medical care and protection from violence. In Niger, governmental forces reportedly engaged in recurring arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as inhuman or degrading treatment of civilians. High-profile cases include former President Bazoum, his wife, several former ministers, and close advisers, who remained detained as of 2025 pending trial before military courts. A further case concerns Moussa Tchangari, arrested at night in December 2024, taken to an undisclosed location, and later charged with serious offences after criticizing the ban on humanitarian organizations.

Hostage-Taking

Abductions attributed to ISSP increased in Niger, including targeted kidnappings of foreign nationals from their residences and during incidents linked to hostilities involving the Nigerien Armed Forces. The pattern included abductions of transport workers, sometimes followed by release, but also by killings or continued disappearance. This shift towards foreigners is described as aiming at higher ransom payments than those obtainable from local civilians. Where such abductions are carried out to compel the Nigerien Armed Forces to act or refrain from acting, they amount to hostage-taking, which is strictly prohibited under IHL.

In Niger, abductions attributed to ISSP were frequently accompanied by concealment of detainees’ fate and whereabouts. Such practices violate IHL rules aimed at preventing enforced disappearance, including the obligation to register persons deprived of liberty in a non-international armed conflict and related duties to respect family life. They also engage the obligation to take all feasible measures to account for persons reported missing as a result of armed conflict and to provide families with information on their fate.

IHL prohibits pillage and the unlawful destruction of property in all armed conflicts. Pillage entails the violent appropriation of movable public or private property by members of armed forces or armed groups and constitutes a war crime. ISSP was reported to have repeatedly burned civilian homes and looted shops, personal belongings, and resources, including livestock and food. Accounts describe attacks leaving hamlets stripped of usable items and supplies. The reported pattern of pillage and destruction contributed to conditions driving civilians to flee in search of safety and shelter elsewhere.

In Niger, conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence has been reported, with women and girls disproportionately exposed to harm and rape, qualifying as war crimes. Severe economic hardship has contributed to a rise in marriages involving young girls and men belonging to non-State armed groups, in circumstances marked by coercion and fear. Testimonies indicate that proposals of marriage in camps around grazing areas are accompanied by pressure that undermines genuine consent, including through the perception that refusal may trigger violence.

Children benefit from special protection under IHL, including a prohibition on recruiting or using those under fifteen in hostilities and safeguards against direct attack, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and ill treatment, with age-appropriate treatment if detained. In Niger, children remained disproportionately affected by hostilities through documented recruitment and use, killing and maiming, abduction, and conflict-related sexual violence. The United Nations attributed most reported shootings causing child deaths or injuries in 2024 to ISSP. Schools were also repeatedly attacked, contributing to prolonged closures and loss of access to education.