Twelve Nigerien civilians were killed on Thursday in an attack by unidentified armed men in the Tillabéri region, near the Malian border, local sources reported on Saturday.
“Yesterday, July 20, the populations of Anzourou were once again victims of a barbaric attack which left twelve dead”, announced on his Facebook page Omar Hamidou Tchiana, deputy for the Tillabéri region.
Referring to a “tragedy”, the elected official deplored the government’s “incompetence” in the face of the recurrence of armed attacks in the Tillabéri region.
Activist Bana Ibrahim for his part published the list of names of the twelve victims on his Facebook page specifying that they were killed while working in their fields in the villages of Doukou Saraou and Doukou Makani located in the rural commune of Anzourou.
No party claimed responsibility for the attack and no official statement was made on Saturday as of 2:00 p.m. GMT.
Last August, four civilians were killed in an attack by armed men in the village of Doukou Saraou.
Since 2017, the Tillabéri region has faced armed attacks attributed to terrorist groups operating in northern Mali.