Fifteen civilians were killed in Niger on Monday in a new unidentified gun attack in the Banibangu area (west), near the border with Mali, where 33 people were already slaughtered in late July by unknown individuals believed to be jihadists, the government said on Wednesday.
On Monday “around 14:00 (local time; 16:00 Greek time), gunmen who have not yet been identified carried out an attack” against a village in Banibangu prefecture, targeting citizens “who were working in a field” resulting in “finding him “15 people were killed and two others were injured,” the Nigerian Interior Ministry said in a press release.
Banibangu prefecture is located in the Tilaberi district, in the so-called “tri-national border” zone of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, which in recent years has been the scene of bloody attacks by jihadist groups swearing allegiance to either Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda. (ΙΚ).
On July 25, 14 civilians were killed in the village of Uige; three days later, on July 28, 19 people were massacred in the village of Dege Koukou, according to authorities. The perpetrators were riding motorcycles. Some of the victims were cold-bloodedly killed while working in their fields, according to eyewitnesses.
As after the two previous attacks, the Nigerian Interior Ministry assured yesterday that “security and health measures have been strengthened in the area” and that “an investigation is underway” to “find and bring the perpetrators to justice”.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported yesterday that more than 420 civilians had been killed since the beginning of the year in western Niger in attacks by jihadists, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee the area.
According to the official report, 307 people were slaughtered between January and March: 100 in January, 66 on March 15 and 141 on March 21.
The counties of Tilabery and Taua remain destabilized, despite ongoing efforts to restore security.
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A force of about 1,200 Chadian army men, accompanied by the reputation of being the most experienced in the entire region, has been deployed in the transnational border area as part of the G5 Sahel multinational anti-jihad alliance, to which Mauritania’s troops are contributing. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
In its southeastern part, Niger is simultaneously facing the horrors of the jihadists of Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (IKDA).
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