Niamey: Gunmen killed around 20 people in a village in Niger’s Tillaberi region earlier this week.
The news comes a day after the Defense Department said seven soldiers were killed in the area by insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
“The region of Tillabéry … is in mourning after the attack by armed robbers on Monday, May 20, 2024,” the radio station La Voix du Sahel reported.
The attack “tragically left around 20 people missing”.
According to the radio station, the Nigerian military asked Abdorahahamane Tiani, Minister of Youth and Government Spokesman Abdramane Amadu, “to express his condolences to the people of Nigeria.
In the vast and volatile “tri-border” region between Tillaberi, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, rebels have been on the offensive for years despite the deployment of heavy anti-militancy forces.
The Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had killed “dozens of terrorists” after an attack on a military post in Tillaberi on Monday killed seven soldiers.
Niger is ruled by a military leader who seized power in a July coup and cited the dire security situation as the reason for the takeover.
Niamey has also been attacked by Boko Haram fighters and rivals from the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) from the southeastern region of Diffa near Nigeria.
