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Some militant arms in Niger came from West African state stockpiles – report

Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters

Significant proportions of weapons and arms seized from Islamist insurgents in Niger came from West African state stockpiles, suggesting authorities are struggling to secure arms stores in the region, a report said on Monday.

There was no suggestion that any governments were sending weapons to militants who have launched attacks in Niger as well as Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria, Conflict Armament Research, the group that published the report, said.

Nigeria Diffa soldier

A Niger soldier guards with his weapon pointed towards the border with neighbouring Nigeria, near the town of Diffa, Niger, on 21st June, 2016. PICTURE: Reuters/Luc Gnago

Instead, the findings showed that “maintaining custody of military material represents a challenge for the region’s national security forces, particularly those engaged in active military and counterterrorism operations,” CAR added.

The group said it had identified 165 weapons and 6,243 pieces of ammunition in October 2019 that authorities had recovered from Islamist fighters in Diffa, south-east Niger. 

Since then, it said it had been tracing the arms, checking with governments and suppliers.

About 17 per cent of the weapons came from stockpiles in Chad, Nigeria and Niger while 23 per cent of ammunition originated from stockpiles in Nigeria, the report said.

Nigeria and Chad’s government did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. A Niger government spokesman was not reachable for comment.



Militants from Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and other groups have built strongholds in the Lake Chad region and launched repeated cross border raids since 2015.

There was evidence that Boko Haram and ISWAP militants used local black markets and smuggling channels to procure arms, CAR said.

Nearly half the weapons it studied were either manufactured in African countries or originated from stocks that had been exported to a country in northern or western Africa, the report said.

Some of the weapons had similiarities to ones recovered from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and their allies in West Africa, indicating that the groups may overlap or use the same supply mechanisms, the report added.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised Niger long-term military and financial support to fight Islamist insurgents across West Africa, during a visit on Monday on his inaugural Africa tour.

Niger has taken on a bigger role hosting European special forces since the deterioration of relations between Western powers and the military junta ruling neighbouring Mali. 

Scholz visited 180 soldiers from the German Bundeswehr army training Nigerien special forces at a military camp in Tillia about 80 kilometres from the Malian border. 

The mission, which started in 2018, is due to end this year. “Now it will be a matter for us to identify a good follow-up project,” Scholz said later in the day during a press conference with Niger President Mohamed Bazoum. 

Officials say Germany has been expanding its cooperation with Niger since 2015, partly because of the militant threat and partly because of the routes that take migrants across the West African country’s territory towards Europe.

The Bundeswehr remains part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, and the Bundestag lower house of parliament voted on Friday to increase the maximum number of troops there to 14,000 from 1,100 following France’s withdrawal.

Scholz visited Senegal on Sunday and was due to fly to South Africa on Monday evening for the final leg of his tour.

– Additional reporting by MAHAMAT RAMADANE in N’djamena, Chad, and ANDREAS RINKE and BOUREIMA BALIMA in Niamey, Niger.

 

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