Gunmen kill 2 Indians and abduct a third in Niger

Key Points

• Gunmen killed two Indian workers and abducted a third at a construction site in the Dosso region of Niger, according to the Indian Embassy.
• The Indian Embassy is coordinating with local authorities to repatriate the victims and secure the release of the kidnapped individual.
• Foreigners have become frequent targets in Niger’s conflict zones, with recent kidnappings of aid workers from Austria and Switzerland and five Indian nationals in April.
• Niger’s security crisis, fueled by a jihadist insurgency linked to al-Qaida and IS and worsened by the July 2023 coup, saw over 100 civilians killed in IS-backed offensives in June.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Gunmen killed at least two Indians and abducted a third during an attack in Niger’s southwest Dosso region, according to Indian authorities, the latest such violence targeting foreigners in Niger’s conflict-battered territories.

The Indian Embassy in Niger said in a statement on X on Friday that the attack occurred on Tuesday, and that it was in touch with local authorities to repatriate the bodies of the victims and ensure the safe release of the kidnapped individual.

Local media in Niger identified the victims as workers at a construction site in Dosso, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) from the country’s capital of Niamey.

Foreigners are increasingly becoming targets of armed groups in Niger. Several of them have been kidnapped this year, including an Austrian woman who has lived in Niger as an aid worker for more than 20 years, a Swiss woman seized from her home in April and five Indian workers, also in April.

Niger has for many years battled a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, a security crisis that analysts say has worsened since the military toppled the country’s government in July 2023, and has since struggled to restore peace in hot spots.

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, June was one of the country’s deadliest months on record as IS-backed fighters launched a major offensive across the Tillaberi and Dosso regions, killing more than 100 civilians in what marked a return to mass atrocities in rural areas.