Powers armed with motorcycles attacked a group of civilians returning from market day in a volatile corner of Niger, leaving at least 58 people dead and then burning grenades to the ground, the government said on Tuesday. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Monday’s massacres, although extremists belonging to the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara group are known to be active in the Tillaberi region, where villages have been attacked.
The victims were returning home from a large animal market in Banibangou, near Niger’s troubled border with Mali. Extremist money also destroyed nearby granaries, which owned valuable grocery stores.
The announcement was read on Tuesday night on state television in Niger by government spokesman Abdourahmane Zakaria, who declared the victims three days of national mourning.
Monday’s attacks highlight the enormous security challenges facing Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum, who won the election in late February to succeed incumbent Mahamadou Issoufou.
Not only are jihadists active in the Tillaberi region, but counter-terrorism offensives have contributed to the rise of ethnic militias, analysts say. As a result, inter-community tensions have been exacerbated, especially near the Mali-Niger border.
Monday’s attack echoed a January massacre that left 100 dead in two villages, also in the Tillaberi region, that had not been claimed by any extremist group or militia.
Extremists stage mass attacks on Niger army in Tillaberi region, killing more than 70 people December 2019 and more than 89 in January 2020. It is close to the area where four US Special Forces soldiers were killed together with five Nigerian colleagues in 2017.