Niger: Army accused of executing over 70 civilians, probe says

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 08:25 am

Soldiers in Niger performed dozens of civilians for the duration of the counterinsurgency marketing campaign towards jihadists in the past this year, a probe has reported.

Niger has suffered years of battle with Islamic militants working in the Sahel, with lots of troopers and civilians killed to date.

“There have indeed been executions of unarmed civilians and the mission determined at least 71 bodies in six mass graves,” stated Abdoulaye Seydou, the president of the Pan-African Network for Peace, Democracy and Development, which participated in the probe, on Friday

The National Commission for Human Rights was investigating reviews that 102 civilians had long gone lacking in the Inates region in the western Tillaberi area between March 27 and April 2 after an military operation.

The document was once posted on Friday.

Soldiers in Niger and neighbouring international locations Mali and Burkina Faso are battling a growing Islamist insurgency in the Sahel.

But soldiers have been accused of extrajudicial killings and different abuses.

Amnesty International stated in June that the armies of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso had been accountable for almost 200 disappearances over a few months.

There has been no response from the government over the allegations.

(AFP)