Dozens dead in attacks in Niger near the border with Mali

Dozens of people have been killed in attacks on a bus and neighboring villages in Niger near its border with Mali, a security source and local residents said on Tuesday.

No group has claimed responsibility, but Niger grapples with two jihadist campaigns – in the west near Mali and Burkina Faso, and a ten-year-old insurgency in the southeast on the border with Nigeria .

Monday’s raids in the Banibangou area of ​​the Tillaberi region began with an attack on a bus to Chinedogar, a local resident told AFP by phone.

“About 20 people were killed,” said the source.

Another resident said those killed were shopping in Banibangou, a large market town a few kilometers from the Malian border.

“Armed bandits” then attacked villages around 6 p.m., killing around 30 people, a security source said.

The attacks were not immediately confirmed by the authorities.

Tillaberi is located in the so-called Three Borders Zone – a flashpoint area where the borders of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali converge.

Niger is part of a France-backed alliance of countries in the Sahel region fighting militants, some in a group aligned with the so-called Islamic State known as ISWAP – an offshoot of Boko Haram.

Hundreds of lives have been lost, nearly half a million people have fled their homes and devastating damage has been inflicted.

On January 2, 100 people were killed in attacks on two villages in Mangaize district in Tillaberi.

The Tillaberi region has been the scene of various attacks. By AFP (AFP)

The massacre, one of the worst in Niger’s history, occurred between two rounds of the presidential election.

In December 2019, 71 Nigerien soldiers died in an attack in Inates, and the following month 89 were killed in an assault on their base in Chinedogar.

Along with central Mali, the lawless “starboard” zone experiences the most frequent and deadly jihadist attacks in the Sahel region.

French forces working with local troops have stepped up operations in the region since early 2020, following the series of attacks on military camps that have killed hundreds of soldiers.