A military drone strike in western Niger killed at least 17 civilians, including four children, and injured at least 13 others when it hit a crowded market on January 6, 2026, according to a Human Rights Watch investigation released Monday.
The strike in Kokoloko village in the Tillabéri region killed three Islamic State fighters but also devastated the market where hundreds of people had gathered at 1:30 p.m., Human Rights Watch reported. The organization said the attack violated laws-of-war prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks and may amount to a war crime.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch they saw a drone flying over the village twice before it dropped a munition on the market. “The market was hit, and it was full of women and children, women who sell cooked rice, meat soup, and other food; their kids were around, as well as many traders,” a 36-year-old trader said.
The Tillaberi region of Niger borders Burkina Faso and Mali, and has been a haven for militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State groups. Since 2015, the Islamist armed groups have carried out attacks against the military and civilians, mostly in southeastern Niger by Nigeria-based groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Starting in 2019, Islamic State-affiliated groups, including those allied to Al-Qaeda, began ramping up their attacks against soldiers, army bases, and civilians.
On July 26, 2023, Nigerien army officers of the self-proclaimed National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland overthrew the Nigerien government. The military junta has since cracked down on political opposition and attempted to consolidate power by postponing democratic transitions and expelling international bodies. The junta has engaged in large-scale counterinsurgency operations, employing airstrikes against Islamist armed groups in conflict-affected regions.
According to the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law, parties to an armed conflict must distinguish between civilians and combatants. Civilians and civilian objects may not be targeted unless they take a direct part in hostilities. Article 51 of the Additional Protocol I prohibits indiscriminate attacks, and incidents amounting to intentionally directing attacks against civilians in an armed conflict can be constituted as a war crime.
In 2025, the Tillaberi region recorded 1,200 fatalities and became the deadliest front in central Sahel. Tillaberi also recorded the highest number of fatalities from attacks on civilians, with the violence primarily driven by the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), followed by operations by the Nigerien military.
