At least 58 people were killed in two attacks in southwestern Niger yesterday. That happened in Tillabéri, a troubled region in the west of the country, the government reports.
According to the African-focused French medium RFI the victims are mainly villagers who returned from a large cattle market near the border with Mali. Their vehicles were stopped along the way by gunmen on motorcycles who opened fire and then set the victims on fire.
It is not the first time that such attacks have caused many victims in Tillabéri. At the beginning of this year, at least a hundred civilians were killed in an attack on two villages.
Extremist groups affiliated with the al-Qaeda and Islamic State terrorist movements are active in the area. It is not clear whether one of those groups is now also behind the attacks.
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