Dozens killed in suspected jihadist attack in Niger

A Nigerien soldier stands guard as Niger's outgoing president Mahamadou Issoufou arrives at a polling stating in Niamey on December 27, 2020. - Copyright ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP

By Euronews with AFP

Published on 03/01/2021 - 07:55

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The attack in the border region of Tillabéri on Saturday left at least 50 dead.

Dozens of people were killed in an attack in Niger on Saturday, in a suspected jihadist attack.

The attack took place around 12:00 CET in the Tchomo-Bangou village in Tillabéri, a western region bordering Mali.

"The assailants surrounded the village and killed up to 50 people," a local radio journalist said anonymously. "The wounded have been evacuated to the hospital in Ouallam."

It came on the day provisional results for the first round of the presidential election, held on December 27, were released.

Mohamed Bazoum, the candidate for the ruling Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) and a former interior minister, is in the lead with 39.3 per cent of the votes. Bazoum has vowed to strengthen the country's fight against Islamist groups.

The second round of the election is to be held on February 21.

Niger has been a target for jihadist attacks for years, particularly in the western and southeastern parts of the country.

On December 21, six days before the presidential poll, seven soldiers were killed in Tillabéri. In May 2020, twenty people, including children, were also killed in two of the region's villages.

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