100 killed in militants' raids on Niger villages

NIAMEY, Niger－Extremists killed around 100 people in two villages in western Niger, the latest in a string of attacks on civilians that have rocked the Tillaberi region, Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said on Sunday.

The attacks on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye occurred on Saturday just as first-round presidential results were announced.

"We lost 70 people in Tchombangou, while around 30 people were murdered in the village of Zaroumdareye," said Rafini, who traveled to the two villages a day after the attacks.

Almou Hassane, the mayor of the Tondikiwindi commune that administers both villages, said the assaults were waged by "terrorists who came riding about 100 motorcycles".

The two villages are 120 kilometers north of the capital Niamey and close to the border with Mali.

"There have also been 75 wounded, some of whom have been evacuated to Niamey and to Ouallam for treatment," Hassane said.

The attackers split into two columns to carry out simultaneous attacks on the two villages, which lie 7 kilometers apart, he added.

Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou was expected to hold an extraordinary security council meeting on Monday, the presidency's office said.

Local elected officials first reported the raids on Saturday, but the death toll was unclear, with one source putting it at around 50.

Issoufou Issaka, a former minister who comes from the region, said the extremists carried out the double massacre after local people had lynched two of their members.

One senior regional official said the attack was carried out at midday, at the same moment the results of the first round of legislative and presidential election were announced.

Fight against extremism

Election officials announced that ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum won the first round of Niger's presidential vote, which was held last weekend. Bazoum has promised to step up the fight against extremism.

Bazoum said his thoughts were with the victims' families, adding in a video message that the attacks showed that "terrorist groups constitute a serious threat to cohesion within our communities and a danger unlike any other".

Bazoum will face former president Mahamane Ousmane in a second round runoff expected on Feb 21.

Issoufou expressed his condolences in a statement in which he condemned the "cowardly and barbaric attack".

The two villages are in the vast and unstable Tillaberi region, which is located in the "tri-border "area, where the porous borders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso converge. The area has suffered extremist assaults for years.

Four thousand people across the three nations died in 2019 from extremist violence and ethnic bloodshed stirred by extremists, according to the United Nations.

Agencies - Xinhua