Days after attacks on two villages killed more than 100 civilians in his African nation, Niger’s president said Wednesday that tackling the growing fragility of nations must be a top priority of the 21st century.
President Mahamadou Issoufou urged international help so countries in Africa’s Sahel and Lake Chad Basin can build stronger democratic institutions and strengthen their security and defense capabilities.
He said the massacre near Niger’s border with Mali is a stark reminder that “what is happening in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin … strikes the entire international community.” Speaking at a virtual high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Mr. Issoufou said that “fragile conflicts are increasingly the battleground for political rivalries.” He said terrorism, pandemics, forced displacements, disasters and famine “often take root in fragility.” Niger and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali are battling the spread of deadly extremist violence,…