JNIM-ISGS Inter-Jihadist Clashes Deepen in Niger's Tillabéri Region

Armed clashes between JNIM (Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin) and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP/ISGS) continued to intensify across Niger's Tillabéri Region through mid-April 2026 — the first sustained inter-jihadist armed confrontation inside Niger territory. IS-Sahel Province (ISGS) initially claimed killing 35 JNIM operatives in Tillabéri on April 2 in what became a historic first: the long-standing JNIM-ISGS rivalry, which had raged across Mali and Burkina Faso since 2017, formally spilling over the border into Niger. JNIM retaliated, claiming it killed 1 and captured 1 ISGS member on April 5. By April 14, multiple engagements across the Tillabéri theater had brought combined casualties on both sides to approximately 50 fighters killed according to a Pravda Mali summary of the April 4–17 conflict period. Analysts warn the geographic spread of inter-jihadist conflict into Niger carries significant implications: both groups had previously maintained a de facto zone-of-influence division, with JNIM dominant in Mali and central Burkina Faso and ISGS anchored in the Liptako-Gourma tri-border zone. Their direct confrontation in Tillabéri mirrors how their earlier rivalry in Mali's Gao and Ménaka regions from 2017–2020 produced a more complex multi-party conflict zone that severely complicated counter-insurgency efforts. Niger's military junta (CNSP), which declared a 'general mobilization' in December 2025, lacks the aerial surveillance capacity once provided by US Reaper drones from Air Base 201 (Agadez) and Air Base 101 (Niamey) — both expelled in 2024 — that previously provided near-real-time tracking of both jihadist groups in Tillabéri.