Nairobi — Strengthen Civilian Protection, Accountability for Atrocities
An Islamist armed group has killed 30 civilians, including 4 children, and 5 captured combatants in two attacks in western Niger since January 18, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks by the Islamic State in the Sahel (IS Sahel) are unlawful and apparent war crimes.
On January 18, IS Sahel fighters rounded up and executed 31 men and boys in Bossieye village in apparent retaliation against residents for refusing to pay the zakat, or Islamic tax, it had imposed, and for joining pro-government militias. On January 26, in Alfaga Daweyzé Koira village, IS Sahel fighters killed four men and wounded five others who were attempting to protect a villager accused of collaborating with the military. The two villages are in the Tillabéri region, a focal point of IS Sahel activity and government counterinsurgency operations for a decade.
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"IS Sahel is brutally targeting civilians in the Tillabéri region," said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The recent killings fit a disturbing pattern of IS Sahel's atrocities against civilians and show complete disregard for human life."
Between January 21 and February 4, Human Rights Watch remotely interviewed 13 people, including 6 witnesses to the attacks and 7 local activists, journalists, and community leaders. On February 6, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the junta's cabinet, sharing its findings and requesting the government's comments. Human Rights Watch did not receive a response.
IS Sahel did not claim responsibility for the attacks, but witnesses said they believed the attackers were IS Sahel fighters based on their turbans with red bands seen during previous attacks.
In November 2025, IS Sahel fighters had arrived in Bossieye on six motorbikes and ordered villagers to pay the zakat within a month. A resident, 45, said the village chief told residents to stop paying the armed group and to contribute instead to the pro-government militia. "For the chief, it was unacceptable to continue giving our cows and millet to a few individuals arriving on six motorbikes," he said. "That day, I stood up and told the village chief to be careful. I said, 'It's not the elephant's trunk that's scary, but where the trunk comes from.' The chief did not listen to me. And the elephant came."
In late 2025, some Bossieye residents, most of them ethnic Zarma, received training and weapons from the military and formed a militia to fight IS Sahel.
Witnesses said that around noon on January 18, armed assailants arrived in Bossieye on at least 100 motorbikes, prompting many villagers, including the village chief, to flee. They said the fighters rounded up men and teenage boys, going door to door, and apprehending those who attempted to flee or who were at the mosque for the 1 p.m. prayer. Five of those taken into custody are known to have joined the militia but were unarmed. A woman said she saw the fighters rounding up men between the mosque and the village chief's house, but spared women and small children. She later heard gunfire.
Two men from Yatakala, a nearby village, said that late on January 18, the son of Bossieye's village chief arrived in Yatakala carrying his father's body. The son said that armed men had attacked Bossieye, killing his father and several other villagers. They said they helped him bury the body, then alerted the military and requested assistance.
The following day, Nigerien forces taking part in "Operation Borkono," a campaign against the Islamist armed groups that begun in January, came to Bossieye with militiamen. They secured the area and allowed villagers to bury the victims.
A 42-year-old man from Yatakala who went to Bossieye on January 19 said he found 31 bodies near the mosque. "The attackers had really sprayed them with bullets," he said. "Some were hit in the head, feet, legs, back." Another man, 65, said: "We dug four mass graves: in the first one, we put 9 bodies; in the second, we put 9 more, and in the third and fourth, we put 6 and 7 bodies respectively."
Human Rights Watch reviewed a list, compiled by residents, with the names of 27 men, ages 19 to 71, and 4 children, ages 15 to 17.
On January 26 at about 4 p.m., IS Sahel fighters arrived in Alfaga Daweyzé Koira village on five motorbikes. They searched the market for a man they accused of collaborating with the military and recruiting for the local militia. When they did not find him, they proceeded to his house, where a crowd had gathered to defend him. A 35-year-old man who narrowly escaped death, said: "At this point, they [IS Sahel fighters] opened fire on the crowd, killing four men on the spot and injuring five others."
After the fighters left, "we first helped evacuate the wounded and then buried the four victims in individual graves at the village cemetery," a 37-year-old man said.
Troops came to Alfaga Daweyzé Koira on January 28 and urged the village chief to leave the area but did not ask about the situation for other residents, including those injured in the attack.
Human Rights Watch reviewed a list, compiled by residents, of the men killed, ages 23, 25, 34, and 43, and of the wounded, ages 34 to 60.
Niger has been ruled by a military junta since July 26, 2023, when officers led by Brig. Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani overthrew and detained President Mohamed Bazoum, pledging to combat the Islamist insurgency. Nigerien security forces have conducted large counterinsurgency operations, including airstrikes, in the Tillabéri region, some resulting in serious laws-of-war violations.
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The nongovernmental group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) has reported that in 2025 the Tillabéri region recorded the "highest number of fatalities from attacks on civilians" in central Sahel, caused first by IS Sahel, followed by the Nigerien military, and finally by the Al Qaeda-linked armed group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
All parties to Niger's armed conflict are bound by Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law. The laws of war prohibit attacking civilians, mistreating anyone in custody including captured combatants, looting, and destroying civilian property. Individuals who order, commit, or assist serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent may be prosecuted for war crimes. The Niger government has an obligation to investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged war crimes committed within its territory.
"IS Sahel's unabated atrocities against civilians are deeply alarming," Allegrozzi said. "Niger's military authorities should urgently prioritize the protection of civilians, bring those responsible for abuses to account, and ensure that victims and their families receive adequate support."
