As many as 100 men and boys were killed in a region under siege by militants, military officials say.
At least 70 people and possibly more than 100 were killed by suspected militants in the West African nation of Niger on Saturday, according to local officials. Armed men shot men and boys in a revenge attack on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye, sources in the Nigerien military said. The villages are in the southwestern region of Tillabéri, where civilians have increasingly come under attack in the past two years. “They opened fire on everybody,” said Jahafar Koudize, a resident of Tchoma Bangou who managed to escape. The attack, which came just a week after Niger’s presidential election, appears to be one of the country’s deadliest ever. In December 2019 and January 2020, Nigerien security forces suffered huge losses in the same region, which is also where four American Special Forces soldiers were killed alongside five of their Nigerien colleagues in 2017. Two military officers confirmed the latest attack, but asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings, but the militants who have recently been making inroads into Tillabéri are with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, a franchise of the Islamic State.
