Niger: new jihadist attack and growing insecurity on the border with Mali

Nigerien soldiers in Tillabéry.

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In Niger, the jihadists have killed again in the north of the Tillabéry region.

Nineteen villagers were killed on the evening of Saturday, April 17, while they were burying one of their own.

The attackers, who came by motorbike, then set off again in the direction of the North, in the Anzourou zone, bordering Mali.

For some time now, insecurity has been growing in this area where dozens of civilians have been killed in less than a month.

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With our correspondent in Niamey,

Moussa Kaka

It was shortly before the breaking of the Ramadan fast, at dusk, that the village of Gaygorou was targeted by armed attackers who came on motorcycles.

The victims were gathered for the burial of an old man in the village cemetery when they were savagely killed.

These victims, already in mourning, had no idea until the jihadists burst in.

All were buried in the same cemetery on Saturday evening.

According to a security source, the jihadists fled towards the Anzourou area, with the arrival of a military patrol in the village, which, according to the same source, would have limited the carnage in Gaygorou.

It is a traumatized population that the delegations of the Ministers of the Interior, Defense and the Governor of Tillabéry have met.

There is no valid reason for this murderous incursion against this village where sedentary and nomadic populations live in perfect harmony on the banks of the Niger river

 ", declared the governor of Tillabéry, Tidjani Katchala.

To reassure these populations, a detachment of special forces from Operation Almahaou is camping near the village.

For some time now, several dozen villagers have been massacred by jihadist groups.

But according to specialists in the fight against terrorism in Niamey, insecurity is growing from Ayorou to Tillia, in the northern region of Tahoua where it is worrying.

According to the same sources, weapons are smuggled into this area almost every day.

Read also: Niger: new terrorist attack in the Tillabéry region

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