The Nigerien authorities decided, Monday August 10, to "extend the state of emergency" to the locality of Kouré, in southwestern Niger, the scene of an attack on Sunday in which eight people including six French aid workers were killed.

The state of emergency grants additional powers to the security forces, including that "to order house searches day and night", according to the authorities.

This expansion was decided at the end of an "extraordinary" National Security Council (CNS) which was chaired by Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, according to public television. 

The Council decided to "extend the state of emergency" to two prefectures which were not so far affected by this measure imposed three years ago on the Tillabéri region. This vast riparian zone of the "three borders" between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, has become a den of Sahelian jihadists, including the Islamic State group in the Great Sahara (EIGS). Among these prefectures is that of Kollo which administers the locality of Kouré, a heavily wooded area where the last West African giraffes live, 70 km from Niamey.

Terrorist attack"

The state of emergency is already in force in the Diffa region (south-east) near Nigeria, the scene of recurrent attacks by the Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) groups, resulting from a split of Boko Haram.

The council also announced the "suspension" of access to the giraffes site so that "the investigations which are currently taking place can continue in all serenity", the Nigerien Minister of the Interior, Alkache Alhada explained on television.

The six French people, their guide and their driver, most of whom are employees of the NGO Acted, were shot dead by armed men on motorcycles during a tourist excursion in the town of Kouré. The attack, denounced as "terrorist" by Niamey and Paris, is the first to target French people in this sector. 

With AFP

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