Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said on Tuesday.
The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group are active.
A resident of the area told reporters that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.
Photo: AFP
“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt, where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Local media firm Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification.”
“Once again, the Tillaberi region ... has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.
Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.
About 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.
Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.
The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslims in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.
Meanwhile, ACLED, a non-governmental organization that tracks conflict victims worldwide, said that about 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October last year — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.
Niger, as well as Burkina Faso and Mali, which are also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and US armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.
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