Dozens of civilians were killed in a brutal attack by suspected insurgents in southwest Niger, near the borders of Burkina Faso and Mali.
The assault targeted Muslim worshippers heading to Friday prayers in the village of Manda, residents told AFP on Monday.
“This attack claimed dozens of lives,” a local source reported, requesting anonymity due to safety concerns.
Another resident described the toll as “heavy” but awaited official confirmation to provide an exact figure.
A Nigerian security source said 71 people were killed, blaming militants aligned with the Islamic State group.
The same source revealed no rescue mission was dispatched, leaving survivors to feign death beneath the bodies of the slain.
Conflicting accounts suggested Nigerien troops had later surrounded the village, though no official statement was issued by the authorities.
The borderlands of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso remain gripped by relentless unrest, fuelled by armed groups and criminal gangs.
Since a July 2023 coup ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, at least 2,400 people have been killed in Niger, says conflict monitor ACLED.
Military rulers in Niger, as in neighbouring juntas, have struggled to curb the surging tide of extremist violence.
Attacks on worshippers after Friday prayers have become a grim signature of IS-linked militants operating in the region.
Last week, Niger’s army reported 34 soldiers killed when hundreds of fighters stormed Banibangou, another border village in Tillaberi.
Manda, the site of Friday’s bloodshed, lies within Tillaberi, where Niger’s military is pursuing two major counter-terror operations.
Earlier this year, 44 civilians were killed while praying in a mosque in Fambita, also in the Tera department, in an IS-claimed assault.