Sahel Edition

Sahel: Three children die in school fire in Niger’s Zinder regionF



Posted On 6 February 2023

Number of times this article was read : 896

The North Africa Journal’s WhatsApp Group

Three children died and 11 were injured, two of them seriously, when a school made of straw and wood caught fire in central Niger on Monday, local officials said. The fire broke out in a classroom in a school in Zinder and spread swiftly, fanned by the harmattan seasonal winds, Harou Mamane, secretary general of the regional government, told AFP. “The children panicked and rushed to try to get out” but some were trapped, he said.

The landlocked Sahel country is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 189th out of 191 nations in the UN’s 2022 Human Development Index (HDI). Lacking funds, the authorities have built thousands of classrooms made from straw and wood, where children often sit on the floor as they have no desks. The government last November launched a plan to replace all these classrooms with durable and safer substitutes by 2026.

AFP

Mali: After Kidal, The War Comes to Bamako$

Mali’s military government lost Kidal to a joint FLA-JNIM offensive on April 26, 2026, after Russian Africa Corps personnel and Malian troops withdrew under rebel escort. The fall of the city, retaken by Bamako with Russian support in November 2023, exposes the limits of the junta’s sovereignty narrative and raises serious questions about the durability of Mali’s security model.

Mali: Russian-linked Forces Under Drone Pressure in Northern Mali$

Armed groups in northern Mali are shifting toward repeatable FPV drone strikes against Malian army and Russian-linked Africa Corps positions. Recent attacks in Anéfis and Aguelhok indicate a tactical evolution that challenges the assumption of operational sanctuary in the Kidal region.

Niger Turns to Local Self-Defense Units to Contain Growing Insecurity$

Niger has formalized local self-defense units known as Domol Leydi as violence intensifies across its borders, reflecting a shift toward community-based security in response to expanding militant activity and limited state reach.

Podcast: Development Without Aid: Power, Politics, and Local Resilience in the Global South$

A conversation with Dr. Kate Schecter, President and CEO of World Neighbors, on how community-led development works in practice across the Global South.