Overview
- Witnesses reported a drone over Kokoloko in Tillabéri before a munition hit the crowded market around 1:30 p.m. on January 6.
- Human Rights Watch documented at least 17 civilian deaths, including four children, and at least 13 injuries, alongside three Islamic State Sahel fighters killed.
- Video from the site showed extensive fire damage, NASA FIRMS registered active fires at 1:31 p.m., and January 20 satellite imagery revealed burned areas along the main road.
- HRW says the strike violated laws-of-war prohibitions on indiscriminate attacks and could constitute a war crime, calling for accountability and compensation.
- Niger’s military authorities have issued no public comment and did not answer HRW’s January 26 letter, while most of the village’s roughly 1,200 residents fled to nearby areas or into Mali.