The Niger government said on Tuesday that armed people in southwestern Niger killed 58 people by stopping a convoy returning from a weekly market. At the same time, his food store was also completely burnt by fire. The attack took place in the Tilaberi area on Monday, near Mali and Burkina Faso border. The victims were returning to their homes from the big cattle market.
On Tuesday evening, government spokesman Abdurrahman Zakaria announced a three-day national mourning for the victims on Niger state television. So far no organization has claimed responsibility for this massacre. However, extremists associated with the Islamic State are known to be active in the Tilaberi region.
Monday’s attack has presented enormous security challenges to the new President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum. Only in February last month, Mohammad Bajoum won the presidential election. Monday’s attack reminded the massacre in January in which 100 people died in two villages. Both these villages were also in the Tilaberi region. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack.
The extremists launched a large-scale attack on the Niger army in the Tilaberi region. More than 70 soldiers were killed in December 2019 and more than 89 soldiers were killed in January 2020. Analysts say that not only are the armed groups active in the Tilaberi region, but the anti-terrorism crimes against them have helped in giving rise to ethnic terrorists.
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