Niger

Casualties

Last updated: 06 October 2017

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2016

426 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties (116 killed; 293 injured; 17 unknown outcome)

Casualties in 2016

15 (2015: 8)

2016 casualties by outcome

8 killed; 7 injured (2015: 4 killed; 4 injured)

2016 casualties by device type

11 unspecified mine; 4 improvised mine (victim-activated improvised explosive device, IED)

 

In 2016, the Monitor identified 15 mine casualties in the Republic of Niger, in two separate incidents.[1] This represented a sharp increase from the eight casualties in 2015 and two casualties in 2014.[2] Mine casualties recorded in 2015 and 2016 were associated with intensifying Boko Haram insurgent activities in southeast Niger, in the region bordering Nigeria. Reports indicated mines or improvised mines (victim-activated improvised explosive devices, IEDs) having been the cause. In January, six military personnel were killed and another five injured when their vehicle hit a mine near the border with Nigeria.[3] In September, two military personnel were killed and two were injured when their vehicle hit an IED in the same area.[4]

The Monitor has recorded 426 mine/ERW casualties (116 killed; 293 injured; 17 unknown outcome) from 1999 to 2016. As last reported in April 2014, the National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illicit Weapons (Commission Nationale Pour la Collecte et le Contrôle des Armes Illicites, CNCCAI) had reported a total of 400 (108 killed; 287 injured; 5 unknown outcome) mine/ERW casualties in Niger between 2007 and April 2014.[5]



[1] Monitor media scanning for calendar year 2016.

[2]Niger: une mine explose sur la route du festival de l’Aïr,” Algaita Info, 24 February 2014.

[3]Landmine Explosion Kills 6 Soilders at Niger-Nigerian Border,” Africanews, 18 January 2016; “Niger: Six soldats tués par l'explosion d'une mine à la frontière du Nigeria” (“Niger: the explosion of a mine killed six soldiers on the border with Nigeria”), Koaci Info, 18 January 2016; and “Niger: six soldats tués par une mine” (“Niger: six soldiers killed by a mine”), Le Figaro, 18 January 2016.

[4]Niger: Deux militaires tués dans l'explosion d'une mine à Diffa” (“Niger: two soldiers killed when a mine exploded in Diffa”), Anadolu Ajansi, 9 September 2016; “Niger: sept soldats tués par Boko Haram dans deux embuscades” (“Niger: seven soldiers killed in two Boko Haram ambushes”), Jeune Afrique, 14 September 2016; “7 éléments des FDS tombés sur le champ d’honneur et 30 terroristes tués suite à deux attaques dans la Région de Diffa” (“7 members of the FDS fell on the battlefield and 30 terorrists were killed in two attacks in the Diffa region”), aNiamey.com, 15 September 2016; and “Communiqué du Ministère de la Défense Nationale: Sept éléments des FDS tombés sur le champ d’honneur et trente terroristes tués suite à deux attaques dans la région de Diffa” (“Ministry of Defence press release: 7 members of the FDS fell on the battlefield and 30 terorrists were killed in two attacks in the Diffa region”), Niger Inter, 14 September 2016.

[5] Interview with Mamadou Youssoufa Maiga, CNCCAI, and Issoufou Garba, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, in Geneva, 1 April 2014; and email from Allassan Fousseini, CNCCAI, 7 June 2013.