Chad says 7 kidnapped by Boko Haram, 1 dead in Niger

Suspected jihadists have kidnapped seven Chadians in neighbouring Niger, one of whom has been killed, Chad’s embassy said on Friday.

Since taking power in a 2023 coup, Niger’s military junta has struggled to stem extremist violence that has plagued several parts of the west African country for nearly a decade.

In the southeast, near the border with Chad, Niger faces jihadist attacks from Boko Haram and its rival splinter faction, the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).

“Seven of our compatriots were abducted by… Boko Haram” on the road between N’Guigmi and Daboua, near the Chad border, the Chadian embassy in the Nigerien capital Niamey said in a statement published on Facebook on Friday.

“One of them unfortunately lost his life in particularly tragic circumstances,” it added, without giving details.

The kidnappings took place on Tuesday near the restive Lake Chad area, which straddles Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

The region serves as a sanctuary for both Boko Haram and ISWAP, from which both launch attacks across the four countries.

In 2015, the four countries reactivated a counterinsurgency force around Lake Chad, initially created in 1994, that is known as the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

Niger left in 2025 due to tensions between the participating states.

In March, the junta in Niger said it was setting up civilian militias to help the army fight anti-government armed groups.

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