Gunmen laid siege to a village near Niger's "tri-border" zone with Burkina Faso and Mali, killing at least 69 people, including a town mayor. The Niger government confirmed Thursday earlier reports of the attack, stating that the armed men had attacked a village in the country's southwestern region.
The attack is the latest eruption of violence in the volatile area, which has been the epicenter of the years-long armed conflict between state forces and armed groups believed to be linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda.
An armed group reportedly ambushed a delegation led by the mayor of Banibangou just 50 kilometers from his town in the western region of Tillaberi near the country's border with Mali.
Interior Minister Alkache Alhada said Thursday that at least 69 people were confirmed to have been killed by the armed men. He added that 15 people from the village had managed to escape and survive. The minister said they have already mobilized security forces to search for the perpetrators.
"The provisional toll of the attack... is 69 dead, including the mayor, and 15 survivors," the minister said.
Local sources said the armed men attacked the delegation in the village of Adab-Dab. The source said the heavily-armed men were members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). The men reportedly rode on motorbikes into the village.
A separate source claimed that the armed men targeted a local defense force group called the Vigilance Committees. Local residents set up the group following a string of armed attacks on farms by alleged jihadist groups.
Following the attack, the men reportedly fled back towards Mali, taking the bodies of their fallen comrades with them. It was not immediately made clear how many of the group's members were killed during the encounter.
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) said that violence in the volatile regions has greatly escalated over the past few months. The consultancy group, which tracked political violence, said that armed groups in Niger had killed more than 530 people since the start of the year, and the figure is roughly five times more than the number of people killed last year.
