In an airstrike by the Nigerian army on “armed bandits” in the Maradi region of southern neighboring Niger, seven children were killed “by mistake” on Friday. The governor of this region stated this on Sunday.
“There was a mistake with Nigerian bombings that have just hit the border (with Niger) and that have left victims on our territory in the village of Nachadé. The victims are 12 children, seven of whom have died and five have been injured,” said Governor Chaïbou Aboubacar, who went to the village on Saturday to offer his condolences.
Several municipalities in the border region have been plagued for years by heavily armed gangs from the neighboring Nigerian states of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara. They engage in targeted murders and kidnappings with ransom money, harass traffickers and steal livestock. Niger has been strengthening military patrols at the border since 2018 to prevent these raids.
The International Crisis Group think tank last year expressed fears that the unstable region of Maradi could also become a hotbed for jihad. In Niger, jihadist terror groups are already active in the southeast, also close to Nigeria, and in the west, near Mali.
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