80 killed in attacks on Niger villages

NIAMEY: About 80 civilians were killed in simultaneous attacks on two villages by suspected Islamist militants in Niger, near the border zone with Mali, security sources said yesterday.

About 49 villagers were killed and 20 people wounded in the village of Tchombangou, a security source, who requested anonymity, said.

A second source, a senior official in Niger’s interior ministry who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 30 other villagers had been killed in the village of Zaroumdareye.

Interior Minister Alkache Alhada described the attackers as jihadists. The region, close to the borders of Mali and Burkina Faso, is home to armed fundamentalist groups who have pledged allegiance to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

The attack was believed to be in retaliation for the earlier killing of two fighters by villagers, Alhada said.

The gunmen are believed to have ridden in on motorcycles from Mali.