Attacks by suspected jihadists in villages in the Tahoua region of Niger have killed 137 people, the government said in another massacre highlighting the major security challenges facing new President Mohamed Bazoum.
“By now systematically treating the civilian population as targets, these armed bandits have gone a step further in horror and brutality,” government spokeswoman Zakaria Abdourahamane said in a statement on Monday.
The increase in the death toll, given at least 60 earlier Monday, would make Sunday’s attacks the deadliest alleged jihadist massacre in Niger.
Gunmen arriving on motorcycles attacked the villages of Intazayene, Bakorat and Wistane near the border with Mali and “shot at anything that moved”, a local official said.
“The government condemns these cruel acts committed by individuals who do not know the faith or the law,” Abdourahamane said.
Less than a week ago, he read another cruel announcement about attacks that killed at least 66 people.
The government has declared three days of national morning as of Tuesday.
“Reinforced security and sanitation measures will be taken in the region and an investigation has been launched to locate the perpetrators of these cowardly and criminal acts and bring them before the courts,” the government statement said.
According to the UN rankings for 189 countries, the world’s poorest country, Niger is also struggling with jihadist uprisings that have swept out of Mali and Nigeria.
Hundreds of lives were lost, nearly half a million people fled their homes and devastating damage was done to the former French colony.
The three villages are located in the arid Tahoua region in western Niger, and border the Tillaberi region in a border region notorious for jihadist attacks.