Tongo Tongo  Tongo Tongo () is a village in the rural commune (municipality) of Tondikiwindi (also "Tondi Kiwindi"), Ouallam Department, Tillabéri Region in southwestern Niger, 174 km north of the nation's capital Niamey and 28 km south of the border with Mali. The village has about 160-170 huts/dwellings, irregularly clustered. There are no roads, just trails that connect to nearby villages such as Siwili, Firo, Sabara Bangou, Sinka Koira, Gollo, Gouré Tonndi, Kokorobé Koukou and Zerma Daré. The population of the commune consists for 99% of the Zarma people (also called Djerma). Most of them own cattle, sheep, goats and dromedaries, renting them out to the Fulani people or Tuareg people for tending. Though arable land is rare and poor, there is also some agriculture, mostly millet and sorghum. The area is part of the Sahel and consists of a vast expanse of plateaux and hills. The physical environment is in an advanced state of degradation caused by habitat destruction, poaching, and by the viccisitudes of the local climate.Tongo Tongo should not be confused with the village Tongo-Tongo in neighbouring Mali. In March 2017 the Nigerien government declared a state of emergency in the Ouallam Department (and thus in Tongo Tongo) because of the spill-over from the war in nearby Mali, where large areas are under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda. As of fall 2017, many western nations advise against all travel in the Ouallam Department. The U.S. military has been operating in that area with local forces to help them fight terrorism and to disrupt the militants' movements. On 4 October 2017 a 11-man team of U.S. soldiers from the Army's 3rd Special Forces Group was operating with approximately 35 Forces Armees Nigeriennes (FAN) on a train and advise mission near Tongo Tongo. Militants, both Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and ISIS, had been using a nearby route to travel back and forth into Mali and back to a base camp in Niger and traffic in black market merchandise. The Nigerien forces were working to disrupt this so-called rat line and interdict the militants.