The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday condemned the Jihadist attacks perpetrated last Saturday in western Niger, which caused around one hundred deaths, and expressed its support for the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “the attacks perpetrated on 2 January in Niger, in the towns of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye, which have caused the loss of a large number of human lives”.
It also conveyed “his most sincere condolences to the government and people of Niger, and very especially to the families and loved ones of the victims”, and expressed his “wishes for a speedy recovery of the injured”, while assuring that “Spain continues to support all efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism in the Sahel region, and hopes that this type of act will not go unpunished”.
Around a hundred people died in the terrorist attacks in these two towns in western Niger, in what could be the worst massacre of civilians in this country by Jihadist groups. The two attacks coincided with the announcement of the results of the first round of the presidential elections, which gave partial victory to the current government party and the former interior minister Mohamed Bazoum, who has promised to step up the fight against Jihadist terrorism.
The minister of foreign affairs, Arancha González Laya, paid an official visit to Niger on 8 October during which the president of the republic, Issoufou Mahamadou, and the prime minister, Brigi Rafini, undertook to continue fighting against terrorism and the Spanish government conveyed a “very clear commitment” to “continue to accompany the efforts to achieve peace and stability” in this country, including the work of training the security forces by the Guardia Civil.
Niger has been a priority country for Spanish cooperation since 2006 and continues to be so in the 5th Master Plan, 2018-2021. Spain maintains very close bilateral relations with Niger in the political, migratory, police and development cooperation fields, among others, and participates in the EU’s EUCAP Sahel Niger mission. Furthermore, the Spanish Civil Guard is leading the European GAR-SI Sahel project to create gendarmerie units in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger. Furthermore, González Laya currently holds the presidency of the General Assembly of the Alliance for the Sahel and a Spaniard, the diplomat Ángel Losada, is the current European special envoy for the Sahel.
