Armies of the G5 Sahel nations, whose leaders met on Monday and Tuesday in Pau south-west of France have had a chastening past, incurring heavy casualties from attacks since the beginning of 2019.
The list of the most deadly attacks is as follows:
Niger:
January 9, 2020: 89 soldiers are killed in the west of the country in an attack on the Chinegodar military camp, in the Tillabery region, near the Malian border.
It is the deadliest jihadist attack to date in Niger.
Seventy-seven jihadists were also “neutralized”, according to the Nigerien government.
-December 10, 2019: 71 soldiers are killed in an operation involving several hundred jihadists against the Inates camp in the west of the country.
The operation is claimed by the Islamic State (IS) whose Sahelian branch (Islamic State in the Grand Sahara) led by Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui is very active in the so-called “three border zone” between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
-May 14, 2019: 28 soldiers were killed in the same area along the “three border.”
IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mali:
-18 November 2019: 43 Malian soldiers were killed in an attack on Tabankort, in the northeast region of Menaka, not far from Niger.
They were carrying out a joint operation with Nigerien troops.
-1 November: In the same region inside Mali, 49 soldiers were killed in the attack on their camp at Indelimane, near Menaka.
IS also claimed responsiblity.
-September 30: 40 soldiers were killed in a series of raids on two military camps located on the border with Burkina Faso, specifically in Mondoro and Boulikessy.
The attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islam and Muslim Support Group (GSIM), led by Iyad Ag Ghali, a Tuareg from Mali.
March 17: 26 soldiers were killed in a GSIM attack on the Dioura military camp in the center of the country.
Burkina Faso:
-December 24, 2019: 200 heavily armed individuals attacked the military barracks and the city of Arbinda in the north, near the Malian border.
The attack, the deadliest in five years in Burkina Faso, left 42 dead, including seven soldiers and 35 civilians.
August 19: An attack on a military base in Koutougou, in the north of the country, near the Malian border, left 24 soldiers dead.
Chad:
-22 March 2019: In Dangdala in the south-west of the country, an attack blamed on the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram, affiliated to IS, killed 24 soldiers.
It has been one of the deadliest attacks on the Chadian military since the country’s involvement in the war against jihadist groups began.
LOS/te/fss/as/APA