A terrorist group has massacred 58 civilians in Niger Republic.
The government said the attack took place on Monday in the north-west of the country in the Tillaberi region on the border with Mali.
The attack was directed at traders returning from a nearby market.
There are no details available about who may have carried out the attack. No group has claimed responsibility so far.
Terrorist groups that have sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda or Islamic State are active in the countries of the Sahel region.
The government has little control outside the cities, a fact which is not only exploited by jihadist groups, but also by criminal networks.
In the border region with Mali, in particular, there have been repeated serious attacks, in one on the villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye, more than 100 people were killed while many were injured early this year.
Extremists have previously staged mass attacks on Niger’s military in the Tillaberi region, killing more than 70 in December 2019 and more than 89 in January 2020.
It is near the area where four U.S. Special Forces soldiers were killed along with five Nigerien colleagues in 2017.
In the meantime, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has condemned the horrific attack on a convoy returning from a weekly market in Niger Republic’s Tillaberi region in which many citizens were killed.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Wednesday, copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER, President Buhari extended his condolences to families of victims and all citizens of the neighbouring country.
The Nigerian leader denounced the heinous attack, declaring that Nigeria will continue to stand by all its neighbours in the fight against terrorism.
According to him, the mass killings underscore the enormous security challenges facing Niger Republic as they prepare to inaugurate their new President, Mohamed Bazoum, and indeed the entire sub-Saharan region.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the sub-region to work more closely to end the scourge of terror.
Armed men in South-Western Niger intercepted a convoy returning from a weekly market and attacked a nearby village in the Tillaberi region, which is near the border with Mali and Burkina Faso.
Over 53 innocent traders were reported to have been killed by the gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram/ISWAP sect.
