NIAMEY, Niger (AP) – Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a group of civilians returning from the market in a volatile corner of Niger, killing at least 58 people and then burning down granaries, the government said Tuesday.
There was no immediate claim to responsibility for Monday’s massacres, although extremists belonging to the Islamic State in the Great Sahara group are known to be active in the Tillaberi region where the villages were attacked.
The victims returned home from a large livestock market in Banibangou, near the troubled Niger-Mali border. The suspected extremists also destroyed nearby granaries containing valuable food supplies.
The announcement was read on Nigerian state television on Tuesday evening by government spokesman Abdourahmane Zakaria, who declared the victims three days of national mourning.
Monday’s attacks underscore the enormous security challenges facing Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum, who won elections in late February to succeed outgoing leader Mahamadou Issoufou.
Not only are jihadists active in the Tillaberi region, but counter-terrorism offensives against those extremists have helped create ethnic militias, analysts say. This has exacerbated inter-communal tensions, especially at the border between Mali and Niger.
Monday’s attack reflected a January massacre that killed 100 people in two villages, including in the Tillaberi region, that had not been claimed by any extremist group or militia.
Extremists carried out massive attacks on Niger’s military in the Tillaberi region, killing more than 70 in December 2019 and more than 89 in January 2020. It is near the area where four US Special Forces soldiers were killed, along with five Nigerien colleagues in 2017.
Krista Larson, Associated Press writer in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.