Attack is part of a wider wave of deadly violence since 2017 in Sahel region
17 November 2021 - 16:51
byBoureima Balima, Moussa Aksar and David Lewis
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A Niger soldier patrols along the border in Maradi region. Picture: GILES CLARKE/GETTY IMAGES
Niamey — Unidentified gunmen have killed at least 25 people in southwest Niger, officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of deadly raids along the country’s border with Mali.
Attackers on motorcycles stormed the camp of a local self-defence militia near the village of Bakorat in the Tahoua region on Tuesday, said Attawane Abeitane, mayor of the nearby town of Tillia.
A gunfight lasted for several hours before Nigerien security forces arrived and repelled the attackers, Abeitane said. A security official said only one of the defence militia survived.
“These are terrorists who came from outside and there were many of them,” Abeitane said. “There were deaths among the terrorists, and motorcycles were also burnt.”
No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack. A local affiliate of Islamic State (IS) has killed hundreds in rural communities near the Malian border in 2021.
One raid on Bakorat and neighbouring villages in March killed 137 people, one of the deadliest days in Niger’s recent history. Local officials blamed that attack on IS in the Greater Sahara.
In the absence of a permanent military presence, some villages and towns have taken up arms to defend themselves, though security analysts fear this can stoke the violence.
The attack is part of a wider wave of violence that since 2017 has swept across West Africa’s Sahel region, a band of arid terrain south of the Sahara Desert.
Some of the worst attacks have been centred in the border region of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the region, and millions displaced.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Gunmen storm militia camp and kill 25 in Niger
Attack is part of a wider wave of deadly violence since 2017 in Sahel region
Niamey — Unidentified gunmen have killed at least 25 people in southwest Niger, officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of deadly raids along the country’s border with Mali.
Attackers on motorcycles stormed the camp of a local self-defence militia near the village of Bakorat in the Tahoua region on Tuesday, said Attawane Abeitane, mayor of the nearby town of Tillia.
A gunfight lasted for several hours before Nigerien security forces arrived and repelled the attackers, Abeitane said. A security official said only one of the defence militia survived.
“These are terrorists who came from outside and there were many of them,” Abeitane said. “There were deaths among the terrorists, and motorcycles were also burnt.”
No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack. A local affiliate of Islamic State (IS) has killed hundreds in rural communities near the Malian border in 2021.
One raid on Bakorat and neighbouring villages in March killed 137 people, one of the deadliest days in Niger’s recent history. Local officials blamed that attack on IS in the Greater Sahara.
In the absence of a permanent military presence, some villages and towns have taken up arms to defend themselves, though security analysts fear this can stoke the violence.
The attack is part of a wider wave of violence that since 2017 has swept across West Africa’s Sahel region, a band of arid terrain south of the Sahara Desert.
Some of the worst attacks have been centred in the border region of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the region, and millions displaced.
Reuters
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