Nigerien Troops Arrest Wanted Azawad Militant Leader, Inkinane Ag Attaher, at Border

Nigerien Troops Arrest Wanted Azawad Militant Leader, Inkinane Ag Attaher, at Border

By Zagazola Makama

The Troops of the Niger Armed Forces have arrested Inkinane Ag Attaher, a key figure in the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), at the Niger-Nigeria border during a coordinated intelligence-led operation carried out between April 3 and 4, 2025.

Intelligence sources, told Zagazola Makama that the suspect, a former Malian army officer who deserted to join separatist and terrorist-linked networks in the Sahel, was intercepted while attempting to enter Nigeria to meet some contacts.

Ag Attaher, who has long been on the radar of regional security services, is alleged to have played a strategic role in the training and equipping of FLA fighters with kamikaze drones, and in coordinating external support for terrorists groups.

ISWAP terrorists have intensified the use of Chinese made drones to carry out attacks in Military formations in Nigeria, prompting security agencies to ask the questions “where are the terrorists acquiring drones and training”?

Security reports indicated that Ag Attaher has maintained close ties with Akli Shikka, under whose coordination several FLA militants were sent to Ukraine for advanced combat and drone warfare training. In return, Ukrainian instructors were reportedly deployed to different parts of the Sahel to train fighters.

The suspect was seriously injured during a drone-handling session on February 13, 2024, and was later evacuated through Mauritania for treatment, security sources revealed.

A founding member of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), Ag Attaher also served as an advisor to its leader, Bilal Ag Acharif. He is believed to have played a prominent role in destabilization campaigns targeting countries of the Sahel.

He has also been linked to several deadly attacks in Mali, Burkina, including the bombing of a passenger boat in Timbuktu that killed dozens of civilians, as well as coordinated assaults on military installations.

Security agencies further alleged that Ag Attaher acted as an informant for the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), particularly during the mass killings reported in 2022 across Menaka and Gao regions in Mali.

The Nigerien military described his arrest as a “significant breakthrough” in the ongoing efforts to dismantle transnational terrorist networks operating across West Africa.

Nigerien Troops Arrest Wanted Azawad Militant Leader, Inkinane Ag Attaher, at Border