A dozen people were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists against a village in the Tillabéri region (western Niger), in the so-called “
three borders
” area, a local elected official
told
AFP on Saturday and a resident. The attack took place Friday evening "
in the village of Theim in the commune of Anzourou, when people were praying after 8:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT),
" a local elected official told AFP. “
Balance sheet: seventeen dead and five injured
”. "
There were a dozen dead
" in the attack perpetrated "
by armed men
", for his part said a resident of Tillabéri, the regional capital.
Read alsoNiger: national mourning after the death of at least 37 civilians in a new attack
Theim is located about twenty km from Zibane Koira-Zéno, Zibane Koira-Tégui and Gadabo, three other villages in the commune of Anzourou targeted several times in the past.
In March, 13 people were killed by suspected jihadists and in May, a series of attacks forced more than 11,000 residents to flee their homes.
This "
massive displacement
" of population was due to "
recurrent attacks
" against civilians, according to the coordination of humanitarian affairs of the United Nations (Ocha), citing the "
assassinations, rapes, extortion of property and theft of cattle
", perpetrated by “
Suspected elements of non-state armed groups operating along the border with Mali
”.
The jihadist groups operating in the Tillabéri region, in the so-called “
three borders
” area between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, are notably affiliated with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS).
See also Burkina Faso: 80 dead including 65 civilians in a recent jihadist attack
Deputies from this region called on Friday for a strengthening of security measures in this unstable area of nearly 100,000 km2, where the Djerma, Fulani, Tuareg and Hausa ethnic groups coexist. In one month, 98 civilians and 19 gendarmes were killed in three departments of the region: Banibangou, Torodi and Abala, remind the elected officials. The last massacre of civilians dates back to August 16, in the village of Darey-Daye (Banibangou) where armed men on motorcycles killed 37 people working in a field, including four women and thirteen minors, according to an official report.
