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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Dozens dead in west Niger jihadist attack

Dozens dead in west Niger jihadist attack

Published Nov 5, 2021 07:47 am

Niamey, Niger - A jihadist attack in Niger's volatile "tri-border" zone with Burkina Faso and Mali has killed dozens of members of a self-defence militia, local sources told AFP on Thursday.

The assault took place on Tuesday at Adab-Dab, a village about 55 kilometres (32 miles) from Banibangou in the western region of Tillaberi, a source said.

A motorcycle-borne defence force was attacked by "heavily-armed members of the ISGS (Islamic State in the Greater Sahara," who were also on motorbikes, the source said.

"In all there are about 60 dead, nine missing and 15 escaped. The mayor of Banibangou is among those who were killed and his body has been recovered," an MP in the western Tillaberi area said.

A security source said the attack occurred "on Tuesday at around 9.30 am" (0830 GMT).

Another local source confirmed the death toll and said the target of the attack was a local anti-jihadist defence force called the Vigilance Committees, which was headed by the mayor of Banibangou district.

The assailants headed off back to Mali "taking the bodies of their fighters with them", the source said.

The defence force had recently been set up by local people following a string of attacks on farmworkers in remote fields by highly mobile jihadists, a former mayor said.

The world's poorest country by the benchmark of the UN's Human Development Index (HDI), Niger is facing jihadist insurgencies both on its western border with Mali and on its southeastern frontier with Nigeria.

The western insurgency began with incursions in 2015. The bloodshed escalated in 2017, with massacres carried out by groups affiliated to al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State.

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