At least eleven civilians were killed on Saturday in western Niger when three trucks and a motorbike were attacked by suspected jihadists near Mali, in the so-called "
three borders
" area, AFP reported on Sunday. AFP from local sources.
“
Three trucks were intercepted on Saturday around 11 a.m. (10 a.m. GMT) by armed men and the nine members on board (…) were all murdered.
Two other people on a motorbike were also killed
,” a municipal official told AFP.
A local MP confirmed the death toll at eleven.
The three trucks were attacked on a sandy and deserted road between the town of Banibangou and the locality of Tizigorou, near the Mali border.
One of the trucks had just left Banibangou where it had delivered the day before, Friday, cement to contractors.
“
According to the information at our disposal, there were eleven dead, two trucks burned and another carried away
,” a deputy from the region confirmed to AFP.
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These attacks come after several months of calm in the Banibangou area, near the Mali border where suspected jihadists had multiplied particularly bloody attacks against civilians in their villages and in their fields since 2021.
Last February, 18 people were killed in an attack on a transport truck by armed men on motorcycles in the department of Banibangou.
On November 2, 2021, at least 69 members of a Vigilance Committee (self-defense militia), led by the mayor of Banibangou, were massacred by armed men, according to the authorities.