Niger (CU)_ Prime Minister Brigi Rafini announced that the attack on two villages in western Niger on Saturday has killed nearly hundred people after one of the fatal days in recent memory of a country devastated by Islamist violence. On Sunday, the Prime Minister Rafini announced on national television the death toll report from a visit to the area near the boundary with Mali. He did not mention who was responsible for the attack.
According to the reports from security sources on Saturday, in the villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye, nearly seventy people were killed in simultaneous attacks by doubtful Islamist militants. Niger has witnessed multiple attacks by militants connected to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State near its borderlines with Mali and Burkina Faso. Violence is part of a broader security issue in the Sahel region of West Africa, with unnerved Western allies like France pouring troops and resources into the province.
Niger has also witnessed counterattacks and revenges between opponent ethnic communities that have been stoked by jihadi violence and race for scanty resources. The Saturday’s attacks in the villages happened on the same day when the election commission declared the results of the first round of the election to replace President Mahamadou Issoufou, who was in power for the past ten years.
Mohamed Bazoum, the ruling party candidate, on Sunday expressed his consolation to the victims who have lost their lives in the attack. He took the issue to social media and posted a video. He said, “the attacks remind us that terrorist groups pose a serious threat to community cohesion, unlike any other.” Bazoum will challenge former President Mahamane Ousmane in the second round of the election scheduled for February 21.
