UN agencies, NGOs banned from working in Niger operation zones

Niamey, Niger | Xinhua | UN agencies and non-governmental organizations have been barred from working in military “operation zones,” Niger’s Interior Ministry said Thursday.

This is “due to the current security situation and the ongoing operational engagement of the Nigerien Armed Forces,” the ministry said in a statement.

Niger has been, in some of its border areas, suffering atrocities of terrorist organizations including armed groups and criminals who have controlled the southern region of Libya since the overthrow of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011. There are also terrorist groups based in northern Mali.

In recent years, a new center of insecurity has emerged in the extreme southwest of Niger, a region known as the “three borders” (Niger-Mali-Burkina Faso) where terrorist groups often carry out deadly attacks targeting both military and civilian population.