The Niger government announced on Friday three days of mourning after 44 civilians were killed in the southwest of the country by “terrorists” belonging to the Islamic militant state in the Gran Sahara group (ISGS), AFP information.
The victims were killed in a “wild” attack against a mosque in the Fambita neighborhood of the Rural City of Kokorou, said the Interior Ministry in a statement broadcast on state television.
He said that 13 other people were injured.
The attack occurred early in the afternoon when people attended a prayer service in the Mosque, according to the Ministry’s statement.
“The strongly armed terrorists surrounded the mosque to carry out their massacre with unusual cruelty,” he said, added that the attackers also set fire to a local market and homes.
The Ministry promised to hunt the perpetrators and judged them. The attack occurred in an area near the borders with Burkina Faso and Malí, a region in which the terrorists affiliated with the militant group of the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have been active for years.
The Government’s army administered by the Niger Board often fights terrorists in the region, and civilians are often victims of violence.
Since July 2023, at least 2,400 people have been killed in Niger, according to the Database of the Non -Governmental Organization ACLED, a non -governmental organization that offers location data and armed conflict events.
