An attack by suspected insurgents in the village of Manda, located in Niger’s southwestern Tillaberi region, has resulted in the deaths of “dozens” of civilians.
The victims were Muslim worshippers reportedly targeted while heading to Friday prayers.
Sources speaking to AFP on Monday indicated a heavy toll, with one local source estimating “dozens” of deaths.
A security source from neighboring Nigeria put the number at 71, attributing the attack to fighters allied with the Islamic State group.
This Nigerian source also claimed that no rescue mission was mounted by Niger’s forces, and some villagers survived by feigning death.
However, one local source stated that the army was deployed around the village.
Nigerien authorities had not yet commented on the attack by Monday afternoon.
This massacre adds to the ongoing unrest plaguing the border region with Burkina Faso and Mali, where militants allied to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group conduct regular assaults.
Niger, like its neighbors, is led by a military junta that seized power in a coup in July 2023, promising to address insecurity.
However, violence has continued, with conflict monitor ACLED reporting at least 2,400 deaths in Niger since the coup that overthrew democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum.
Similar attacks on civilians after Friday prayers have been claimed by IS-aligned groups in the past.
Manda is in the same Tillaberi region where Niger’s army is conducting anti-terror campaigns.
Another recent incident in the region saw 34 soldiers killed in the village of Banibangou last Thursday.
In a separate attack on March 21, 44 civilians were killed while praying at a mosque in Fambita, also in the Tera department (where Manda is located), an attack Niger’s interior ministry blamed on the Islamic State.
