NIAMEY, Niger — More than six months ago, a group of American soldiers rushed to reach a spot in the scrubland of Niger after intelligence officials intercepted a signal from the cellphone of a terrorist known as Doundoun Cheffou. He wasn’t there, but hours later four of the Americans were killed in an ambush that remains under investigation.
This month, Nigerien forces apprehended a man who matches the description of Mr. Cheffou, a senior lieutenant of a former affiliate of Al Qaeda that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Nigerien authorities are working to verify his identity, said a senior Nigerien commander, an account that was confirmed by a retired American counterterrorism official.
In an interview on Friday at a Nigerien base outside the city of Agadez, where the United States is building a new drone base, Col. Maj. Moussa Salaou Barmou, the head of the Nigerien Special Forces, said the man suspected of being Mr. Cheffou was seized during an army patrol two weeks ago in the Tillaberi region near the Mali border.
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The man has been turned over to a special counterterrorism police unit in the country’s capital, Niamey, where agents are working to identify him.
“They are the ones still conducting the investigation and trying to identify this guy,” said Colonel Major Barmou, a 29-year army veteran who trained at Fort Benning, Ga., and the National Defense University in Washington.
Army forces acting on a tip rounded up several men suspected of being fighters from the militant group, known as the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara, he said.
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“We have been following those guys for quite a while now,” Colonel Major Barmou said. “We know the general area where he goes. Somebody told us he was in this area, and probably you should conduct a patrol and get him.”
The United States ambassador to Niger, Eric P. Whitaker, said in an interview on Monday that Nigerien officials had told him and American military officers and law enforcement officials about the capture, and that American officials were waiting to get more information from the Nigerien authorities.
It is still under investigation,” said Mr. Whitaker, who then held up both hands with his fingers crossed to indicate his hopes that the suspect is confirmed to be Mr. Cheffou.
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Soldiers from Niger during an exercise on the outskirts of the capital, Niamey, in February.CreditFinbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times
The troubled district of Tillaberi sits at Niger’s border with Mali, a lawless area where the central government has struggled to assert control.
Herders from the Peul ethnic group have long complained of losing their cattle to armed bandits. In recent years, the ISIS affiliate has recruited heavily from the region, arming Peul men in return for their participation in jihad.
Corinne Dufka, the Sahel director for Human Rights Watch, said the militants had won over the local population by addressing longstanding grievances.
Villagers Ms. Dufka interviewed across the border in Mali described how the group’s leader gave out soccer balls to Peul youth. They described him as a “savior” and said the jihadists had stepped into the security vacuum and given the community the ability to protect itself.
Mr. Cheffou, a onetime cattle herder, is believed to be the terrorist group’s senior commander in the region, where there have been at least 46 attacks since 2016.