Abduction of Navarro Giane Gilbert On 14 January, a Spanish tourist Navarro Giane Gilbert was abducted at the
Assekrem plateau in the
Ahaggar National Park by up to five
Algerian and Malian rebels who hoped to sell Gilbert to ISSP. Gilbert was freed by the
Azawad Liberation Front days later on 21 January in the
Ménaka Region. Gilbert's abduction was conducted in a similar fashion to Gretzmacher's and Abbt's abductions.
Dori-Téra highway attack On 18 January, four
Moroccans truck drivers along with a
Togolese and
Burkinabe who were delivering electrical equipment from Casablanca, Morocco to Niamey, Niger. On the road between
Dori,
Burkina Faso and
Téra, Niger several armed men believed to be ISSP militants abducted the four. The six men were freed in Niger, three days later on 21 January.
Agadem Complex attack On 1 February, a truck carrying two National Guard soldiers who were escorting two
China National Petroleum Corporation workers were ambushed by suspected ISSP militants near the
Agadem Complex Conventional Oil Field in the Agadem Rift Basin near Agadez. In the attack the two soldiers were killed while the two
Chinese workers were injured and then abducted.
Sakoira and Kandadji Dam attacks On 24 April, 12 Nigerien soldiers who were conducting a military operation north of
Sakoira in
Tillabéri were
ambushed and killed by suspected ISSP militants. Two men were arrested the day after for their involvement in the attack after a military campaign in the region. On 25 April, a group of local and foreign
Indian workers who were working on power lines near the
Kandadji Dam. Shortly after their lunch break, a group of gunmen on motorcycles attacked their worksite and abducted six of the men, several were able to get away, no one is known to have been killed in the attack. Five of the abducted workers were Indians who were working for the Kalpataru Projects International Limited, the other worker was a local Nigerien worker. The five Indian workers, who were all from the
Giridih district of
Jharkhand, were identified as Sanjay Mahto, Faljit Mahto, Rajkumar “Raju” Mahto and Chandrika Mahto of
Dondlo and Uttam Mahto of
Mundro, the Nigerien worker was identified as Adam who was reportedly released shortly afterwards. The five men were believed to be somewhere in the Tillabéri region. On 2 July the captors contacted the families and friends of the captives warning them. One of the text messages which was sent to Ajay Kumar whose childhood best friend Rajkumar Mahto was among the abducted, the messages read, “You have 7 days to act or your relatives, all the 5 persons, will be history,” they added “What is needed is known to you.” They also asked Kumar to contact a negotiator at the
Nigerian nonprofit organization Kalthum Foundation for Peace based in
Maiduguri. The month prior a middleman for the captors sent Kumar a two text messages which read “Hello... I believe you are related to Rajukumar who was abducted in Niger Republic,” “He, with 4 others. Unfortunately, they were abducted by ISWAP fighters. They reached out to me to pass a message to you. Ur braza gave them ur numba.”
Dosso massacre On 15 July, gunmen ambushed a security team guarding a worksite for an electrical line around 63 miles north of Niamey in the
Dosso Region, five locals including a Nigerien soldier, and two Indian electricians Ganesh Karmali (39) of Karipani village and Krishna Kumar Gupta (36) of Kushinagar were killed in the attack, and Ranjit Singh of Chakka Kundi was abducted. Gupta had been shot several times in the chest, waist and head, his body returned home 12 days later, Karmali's body was returned home around 15 days later. == References ==