Editing Niger Armed Forces (section)

== Domestic conflicts ==
[[Image:Niger Rebel-Leader-fighting-01apr08.jpg|thumb|right|Member of the rebel MNJ, northern Niger, 2008]]

=== The First Tuareg Rebellion of 1985–1995 ===
From 1985 to 1995, the armed forces of Niger were engaged in armed fights with the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Niger]] (FPLN). An armed attack by FPLN members in [[Tchin-Tabaradene|Tchin - Tabaradene]] in 1985 sparked the closing of the borders with Libya and Algeria, and the resettlement of thousands of Tuareg and other nomads away from the area. Failed promises by the government of [[Ali Saïbou]] fueled growing Tuareg discontent leading to an attack on a police station in [[Tchin-Tabaradene|Tchin - Tabaradene]] in May 1990. The Niger Army violently responded in May 1990, arresting, torturing, and killing several hundred Tuareg civilians in [[Tchin-Tabaradene|Tchin - Tabaradene]], Gharo and [[In-Gall]] in what is known as the [[Tchin-Tabaradene massacre|Tchin - Tabaradene massacre]].<ref>for the Tchin-Tabaradene massacre and human rights abuse of the period in Niger, see a summary in [[Amnesty International]]'s [https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr43/002/1999/en/ Niger: Impunity enshrined in the constitution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325110854/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr43/002/1999/en/ |date=2022-03-25 }}. 8 September 1999. [http://www.conflict-prevention.net/page.php?id=40&formid=73&action=show&surveyid=37 Bram Posthumus] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511150706/http://www.conflict-prevention.net/page.php?id=40&formid=73&action=show&surveyid=37 |date=2008-05-11 }} (see below) gives the number of civilians killed as a range between 650 and 1500.</ref> Tuareg outrage sparked the creation of two armed insurgent groups: the [[Front for the Liberation of Aïr and Azaouak]] and the [[Front for the Liberation of Tamoust]] and continued armed fights until 1995 when a peace agreement end fighting. The Nigérien Armed Forces has been extensively involved in politics since independence, and has been denounced at several points for broad abrogation of human rights and unlawful detentions and killings.

=== The Second Tuareg Rebellion of 2007–2009 ===
The Nigerien Armed Forces were involved from 2007 to 2009 in an insurgency in the north of the country, labeled the [[Second Tuareg Rebellion]]. A previously unknown group, the [[Niger Movement for Justice|Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice]] (MNJ), emerged in February 2007. The predominantly Tuareg group has issued a number of demands, mainly related to development in the north. It has attacked military and other facilities and laid landmines in the north. The resulting insecurity has devastated Niger's tourist industry and deterred investment in mining and oil. The government has labeled the MNJ criminals and traffickers, and refuses to negotiate with the group until it disarms. As of July 2008, some 100 to 160 Nigérien troops have been killed in the ongoing conflict.<ref>Initial text taken from November 2007 United States State Department report: [https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5474.htm Bureau of African Affairs, Background Note: Niger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524232128/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5474.htm |date=2019-05-24 }}.</ref> The second tuareg rebellion ended in 2009 with Peace Talks hosted by Libya.

=== Jihadist insurgency in Niger ===
{{Seealso|Jihadist insurgency in Niger}}
On 10 December 2019, a large group of fighters belonging to the [[Islamic State in the Greater Sahara]] (IS-GS) [[Battle of Inates|attacked]] a military post in [[Inates]], Niger,<ref>{{cite news |title=Behind the Jihadist Attack in Inates |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/niger/behind-jihadist-attack-inates |work=[[ReliefWeb]] |date=13 December 2019}}</ref> killing over seventy soldiers and kidnapping others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20191211-niger-soldiers-killed-attack-sahel-military-camp-issoufou-keita-macron-france-tuareg-islamic-state-al-qaeda-dead|title=At least 70 soldiers killed in attack on Niger military camp|date=2019-12-11|website=France 24|language=en|access-date=2019-12-12}}</ref> The attack was the deadliest single incident Niger's military has ever experienced.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/scores-soldiers-killed-niger-base-attack-191211184533878.html|title=Scores of soldiers killed in Niger base attack|date=11 December 2019|work=Al Jazeera|access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref>

On 9 January 2020, a large group of IS-GS militants [[Battle of Chinagodrar|assaulted]] a Nigerien military base at Chinagodrar, in Niger's [[Tillabéri Region]]. At least 89 Nigerien soldiers were confirmed to have been killed in the attack, with more casualties suspected, making it the worst attack on the army since the start of the insurgency.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Aksar |first1=Moussa |last2=Lewis |first2=David |last3=Balima |first3=Boureima |last4=Ross |first4=Aaron |date=2020-01-11 |title=Niger army base attack death toll rises to at least 89: security sources |language=en |work=Reuters |editor-last=Elgood |editor-first=Giles |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-niger-security-idUSKBN1ZA0TH |access-date=2023-07-09}}</ref>