On 9 January 2020, a large group of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants assaulted a Nigerien military base at Chinagodrar, in Niger's Tillabéri Region.

[2][3] Since 2015 Niger has suffered from a Jihadist insurgency in the western part of the country from militants based in neighbouring Mali.

[5] The attack on the army post by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS) militants was launched from two directions.

In the west, several heavily armed vehicles came from Akabar, Mali, while in the east, men riding several dozen motorcycles came from the Ikrafane forest in Niger.

Despite the communication setback, Nigerien soldiers were able to contact air support through radio which came 20 minutes later in the form of a French Mirage 2000D that routed the IS-GS militants in a show of force.