Niger is under pressure both internally and from foreign partners to ramp up military activity and target Islamic State militants following their recent deadly attacks. The past few years, however, have shown that Niamey cannot confront the insurgency in Tillabery through military means alone. What military success it has achieved has often yielded short-term gains at considerable cost to long-term relations with border communities, whose internecine conflicts and difficult relations with Niamey are exploited by jihadist groups that have become expert in recruiting from among residents of the areas where they are fighting. Niamey’s decision to collaborate with Malian ethnic militias in 2017 during operations against the Islamic State was damaging to regional security. It is critical that the authorities not make a similar miscalculation now. The state should do what it can to win back the loyalty of the peoples
living in the border zone, notably the Peul, using political dialogue, security arrangements and economic tools. Failure to do so would leave Niger’s door further ajar for the Islamic State to walk through.
