More than 18,000 people who have fled conflict in jihadist-hit western Niger are being given help to return as security for the area is beefed up, officials told AFP on Monday. “Armed forces were deployed” to the troubled area ahead of their return “to guarantee security,” he said. The displaced people live on remote islands on the Niger River in Tillaberi, a region that has borne the brunt of a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015. “Calm and peace have returned.” Niger is also struggling in the southeast with jihadist insurgents from Nigeria. The impoverished Sahel state is supported by a number of western countries, including France and the United States, which both have military bases there.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 17, 2023 05:41 UTC