Villagers killed in western Niger attack: local official

An assault by suspected jihadists on a village in western Niger’s troubled “three-border” area has killed 19 individuals and injured two, the Nigerien inside ministry has mentioned.

An assault by suspected jihadists on a village in western Niger’s troubled “three-border” area has killed 19 individuals and injured two, the Nigerien inside ministry mentioned on Saturday.

“The assault focused civilians as they have been ending their (night) prayers,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement learn out on public radio.

It was carried out “at round 9:00 pm,” on Friday within the village of Theim within the Tillaberi area “by armed people who arrived on foot and haven’t but been recognized”, it mentioned.

Earlier, a neighborhood official had put the loss of life toll at 17 and 5 wounded, whereas a resident in regional capital Tillaberi mentioned round 10 individuals had been killed.

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Thiem is round 20 kilometres (12 miles) from three different villages the place a collection of assaults in Might by jihadists linked to the Islamic State compelled greater than 11,000 inhabitants to flee.

MPs from the area known as Friday for elevated safety measures for the realm, saying that jihadists behind the wave of assaults within the huge Tillaberi area are capable of function freely regardless of strict authorities controls.

In a single month, 98 civilians and 19 gendarmes have been killed in simply three departments of the area, they mentioned.

To fight rising assaults, Niger has declared a state of emergency, banned the motion of motorbikes, regulated the sale of gas and closed markets suspected of supplying armed teams, they mentioned.

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The “three-borders” area is a large territory straddling the frontiers of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso that has lengthy been troubled by land feuds, trafficking, desertification and fragile state presence.

The huge arid area, together with central Mali, has turn out to be the worst-hit space within the jihadists’ nine-year-old marketing campaign within the Sahel.

Hundreds of individuals have died and tens of hundreds have fled their properties.