2017 Ayorou attack
| 2017 Ayorou attack | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Jihadist insurgency in Niger | |||||||
  2017 Ayorou attack (Niger) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Niger |
 Islamic State in the Greater Sahara | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
13 killed 5 injured 3 vehicles captured |
3+ killed 1 vehicle destroyed | ||||||
The 2017 Ayorou attack occurred on 21 October 2017 when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked a Nigerien military outpost in the village of Ayorou in southwestern Niger, killing 13 gendarmes. Occurring just weeks after a similar attack in the area killed four American and four Nigerien troops, the attack was carried out by ISGS gunmen who crossed the porous border from Mali.
Background
[edit]The town of Ayorou, located four kilometers from the Malian refugee camp of Tabareybarey and twenty-five kilometers from the Malian border town of Labbezanga.[1] Jihadists had attacked Ayorou on May 11, 2017, with the jihadists seizing weapons and ammunition.[2] No casualties were reported in the May attack, but the Nigerien gendarmerie post in Ayorou was left without defensive walls afterward, and the gendarmes only had trenches to defend themselves.[3]
In early October 2017, Nigerien and American forces were killed by an ISGS ambush in Tongo Tongo, also in Tillabéri Region.[4]
Attack
[edit]At dawn on October 21, militants in four to five vehicles and motorcycles and armed with machine guns and rocket launchers attacked the gendarmes in Ayorou.[4] The jihadists entered Ayorou from the east, and looted the gendarme's armory stealing weapons and three vehicles.[4] Nigerien paratroopers from the nearby Yassen camp then arrived as reinforcements, and chased the jihadists when they fled Ayorou.[1] Some of the militants were intersected north of the town, near Inates and in Malian territory, after a Nigerien patrol killed several jihadists and destroyed their vehicle.[1][4] Nigerien planes surveilled the area, and cleanup operations were launched. The air force had spotted some of the jihadists in a Malian village during the clean-up operations, but the attackers escaped.[5]
Aftermath
[edit]Thirteen gendarmes were killed and five others were wounded, according to the Nigerien Ministry of Defense spokesman Samba Gagara.[6][7] Residents of Ayorou testified that the jihadists fled the town carrying bodies of their comrades, and at least three were left behind.[4][6][8][9] The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara claimed responsibility for the attack on January 12, 2018.[10]
In a statement released by the U.S. embassy, the United States strongly condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of the victims.[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Niger: nouvelle attaque terroriste contre le camp de la gendarmerie d'Ayorou". RFI (in French). 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Niger: le camp de la gendarmerie d'Ayorou ciblé par une attaque". RFI (in French). 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Comment des djihadistes ont piégé une patrouille américaine au Niger". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2017-11-04. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ a b c d e "Niger: 13 gendarmes tués lors d'une nouvelle attaque". La Presse (in Canadian French). 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Niger : " Nos armées n'ont pas encore convaincu " dans la lutte contre les djihadistes". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ a b "At Least 12 Nigerien Troops Killed in Latest Attack". VOA. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
- ^ Aksar, Moussa (2017-10-21). "Gunmen kill 13 Niger gendarmes in attack near Mali border". U.S. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
- ^ "Niger soldiers killed in attack near Mali border". France 24. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
- ^ "Attacks claimed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)". MENASTREAM. 2018-06-23. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "وكالة نواكشوط للأنباء". وكالة نواكشوط للأنباء (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ Niger, U.S. Embassy (2017-10-23). "Statement on Attack on Gendarme Outpost in Ayorou". U.S. Embassy in Niger. Retrieved 2018-03-02.