NIAMEY, Niger – Suspected jihadists attacked a bus and a truck in Niger, killing 21 people in the southwestern Tillaberi region near Burkina Faso, local and security sources said on Thursday.

"A terrorist attack on Wednesday afternoon by heavily armed men travelling on motorcycles and in a vehicle killed 19 people travelling in a bus, including two police officers," a security source said.

"Two others were killed in an attack on a truck," added the source, who asked to remain anonymous. They had burned to death when the truck was set on fire.

Five people including a policeman were wounded in the attack on the bus, which was also torched. They were taken to the capital, Niamey, for treatment, the source said.

Seven passengers -- four women and three men -- managed to escape from the bus.

The attack occurred near the Petelkole border post, 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border with Burkina, a local official said.

In October 2021, three police officers were killed and several others wounded in a suspected jihadist attack on the Petelkole border post.

Tillaberi is located in the flashpoint "three borders" zone of Niger, Burkina and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara operate.