An apparent Niger military drone strike killed 17 civilians, among them children, in western Niger near the Burkina Faso border last month, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
Niger is plagued by jihadist violence in the western Tillaberi region, a flashpoint zone where the country’s borders converge with that of its allies Burkina Faso and Mali.
Jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have made the region a fiefdom, carrying out deadly attacks for nearly a decade.
“An apparent Nigerien military drone strike killed at least 17 civilians, including four children, and injured at least 13 others at a crowded market” on January 6, HRW said in a statement.
Three Islamist fighters were also killed in the strike, it said.
It took place in the village of Kokoloko in the Tillaberi region, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of the capital, Niamey, and less than three kilometers from the border with Burkina Faso, HRW said.
Witnesses spoke of having seen a drone flying over the village twice during the morning and then drop munition on it when hundreds of people were in the market, HRW said.
“The strike, which also killed three Islamist fighters, violated laws-of-war prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks and might amount to a war crime,” it added.
Niger’s military leaders, who came to power in a 2023 coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence in the region.
The Islamic State group claimed an attack that targeted Niamey airport last month.
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