Dabaga is a town in the Agadez Region of northern Niger

Niger

Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

. It is situated around 50 kilometers north of the regional capital, Agadez

Agadez

-Sources:* Aboubacar Adamou. "Agadez et sa région. Contribution à l'étude du Sahel et du Sahara nigériens", Études nigériennes, n°44, , 358 p.* Julien Brachet. Migrations transsahariennes. Vers un désert cosmopolite et morcelé . Paris: Le Croquant, , 324 p. ISBN : 978-2-91496865-2.*. Saudi Aaramco...

, on the main road leading north into the Air Mountains

Aïr Mountains

The Aïr Mountains is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert...

 and the town of Elmeki. Like the nearby communities of Azel

Azel

Azel, meaning "noble", may refer to:*A fictional character in Panzer Dragoon Saga, a 1998 video game for the Sega Saturn*One of the Four Devas, the Primary Antagonists of God Hand...

, Elmeki and Egandawel, Dabaga is an oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

 in the Air Massif valleys, populated by both sendentary and semi-nomadic Tuaregs and small numbers of Hausa

Hausa people

The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...

 and other groups. According to UNICEF, Dabaga had a permanent population of 35,000 in early 2007, mostly families of Tuareg pastoralists, where the adult males traveled with their herds.

Though a village with a long history, Dabaga was officially designated the chief place of its own "Rural Commune"

Communes of Niger

The Departments of Niger are subdivided into communes. As of 2005, in the seven Regions and one Capital Area, there were 36 départements, divided into 265 communes, 122 cantons and 81 groupements...

 in 2002. It is one of five communes in the Tchirozérine Department

Tchirozerine Department

Tchirozerine is a department of the Agadez Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Tchirozerine....

.

2007-2008 violence

Dramatically effected by unrest in 2007-2008, Dabaga was briefly a center for a Doctors without borders project, which was forced out at the end of October 2007 due to attacks from unknown assailants.

In early 2008, Amnesty international

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 alleged the civilian population had suffered repeated attacks by the Nigerien military, who suspect the residents of supporting Niger Movement for Justice

Niger Movement for Justice

The Nigerien's Movement for Justice is a largely Tuareg ethnic, northern Niger based militant group...

 (Mouvement des Nigériens pour la justice, MNJ) rebels in the ongoing Second Tuareg Rebellion. Amnesty reported that the village head, among others, had been murdered by Nigerien armed forces.