Authorities have blamed the lethal assault within the city of Kokorou on the Islamic State within the Nice Sahara, an ISIL affiliate.
The federal government of Niger has declared three days of mourning following an assault on a mosque within the nation’s southwest that killed a minimum of 44 individuals.
The victims have been killed in a “savage” armed assault within the Fambita quarter of the agricultural border city of Kokorou, the inside ministry stated in an announcement broadcast on state tv on Friday.
The ministry stated one other 13 individuals have been wounded.
West Africa’s Sahel area has seen an uptick in violence in recent times following the rise of armed fighters linked to the al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) armed teams that took over territory in north Mali after the 2012 Tuareg revolt.
Since then, it has unfold into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, and extra just lately into the north of coastal West African international locations resembling Togo and Ghana.
Niger’s inside ministry stated the most recent assault occurred early within the afternoon as individuals have been attending a prayer service on the mosque throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“The closely armed terrorists surrounded the mosque to hold out their bloodbath with uncommon cruelty,” it stated, including that the attackers additionally set fireplace to a neighborhood market and houses.
The defence ministry blamed the assault on the Islamic State within the Nice Sahara, or EIGS, an affiliate of ISIL, in an announcement late on Friday.
EIGS had no speedy response to the allegation. Earlier assaults in Niger have been claimed by al-Qaeda affiliate teams.
The federal government has promised to seek out the perpetrators and put them on trial.
The military-run authorities of Niger regularly fights armed teams within the area, and civilians are sometimes victims of the violence.
Since July 2023, a minimum of 2,400 individuals have been killed in Niger, based on the database of ACLED, a non-governmental organisation that provides armed battle location and occasion knowledge.
Throughout the better Sahel area that encompasses a number of international locations, a whole lot of 1000’s extra have been killed and thousands and thousands displaced as armed teams assault cities and villages in addition to authorities safety outposts.
The failure of governments to revive safety contributed to 2 coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger between 2020 and 2023. All three stay underneath army rule regardless of regional and worldwide strain to carry elections.
Because the coups, authorities have turned away from conventional Western allies and have sought army assist from Russia as a substitute.
