Editing Niger Armed Forces (section)

=== 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.