France to boost Sahel security after citizens killed in Niger, says Macron

President Emmanuel Macron says France will continue its work to eradicate terrorist groups in Sahel region

This August 9, 2020 image shows the wreckage of the car where six French aid workers, their local guide and the driver were killed by unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles in an area of southwestern Niger AFPShow less

France will provide greater security for its people in the Sahel after six French aid workers and two Nigeriens travelling with them were killed in Niger on Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the country would continue to fight against extremist groups in the region.

“We will do everything we can to support the families of the victims and to respond to the attack that cost the lives of six of our compatriots and two Nigeriens," Mr Macron tweeted.

“These six young people, who were members of the NGO Acted, showed extraordinary commitment to the local population.

“I have decided to step up security measures for our citizens in the region.

"We will continue in our action to eradicate the terrorist groups, with the increased support of our partners."

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a Defence Council video-conference on Niger at the Fort de Bregancon, southern France, 11 August 2020. EPA

The aid workers and their Nigerien guide and driver were ambushed in a giraffe reserve 65 kilometres from Niger’s capital Niamey, an area considered by the government to be safe.

Acted said four men and four women, aged between 25 and 50, died in the attack.

Marie-Pierre Caley, Acted’s co-founder, said the group left Niamey on Sunday morning and reported their arrival at the reserve an hour later.

An internal army memo suggested the attack took place within an hour of their arrival.

Members of the NGO Acted (from L) Frederic de Saint Cernin, co-founders Frederic Roussel and Marie-Pierre Caley, and their lawyer Joseph Breham arrive to give a press conference in Paris, on August 10, 2020 AFP

France has 5,100 troops fighting an insurgency in the semi-arid Sahel region.

After Sunday’s attacks Mr Macron tweeted that France’s counter-terror efforts would continue.

“Our determination to combat armed terrorist groups is resolute. The fight continues,” he said.

The office of France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said it was launching an investigation.

At the end of June, Mr Macron made his first trip outside of Europe since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

He visited the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott for a summit between France and Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger.

An insurgency began in Mali in 2012 when a Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country was hijacked by Ansar Dine, a group linked to Al Qaeda.

French intervention in Mali wrested back control of the historic northern city of Timbuktu but since then, despite the arrival of thousands of UN and French troops, the conflict spread to central Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

There are concerns among experts that prolonged military interventions have stirred feuds between ethnic groups, sparking fears for states farther south.

Raids and internal clashes between ISIS and Al Qaeda-affiliated groups have occurred with increasing regularity in recent months.

The operations have continued to be costly for the French military, with a soldier killed in Mali at the end of July.

After Sunday’s attack, Niger’s government extended a state of emergency to the entire region that surrounds Niamey and suspended access to the giraffe reserve.

A state of emergency was already in place in parts of Tillabery to the north and west of Niamey, near the border with Mali and Burkina Faso.

An affiliate of ISIS has repeatedly carried out attacks in that zone, including one that killed four US soldiers in 2017.

But no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the French citizens.