The government of Niger has declared three days of mourning following an attack on a mosque in the country’s southwest that killed at least 44 people.
The victims were killed in a “savage” armed assault in the Fambita quarter of the rural border town of Kokorou, the interior ministry said in a statement broadcast on state television on Friday.
The ministry said another 13 people were wounded.
West Africa’s Sahel region has seen an uptick in violence in recent years following the rise of armed fighters linked to the al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) armed groups that took over territory in north Mali after the 2012 Tuareg rebellion.
Since then, it has spread into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, and more recently into the north of coastal West African countries such as Togo and Ghana.
Niger’s interior ministry said the latest attack occurred early in the afternoon as people were attending a prayer service at the mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“The heavily armed terrorists surrounded the mosque to carry out their massacre with unusual cruelty,” it said, adding that the attackers also set fire to a local market and homes.
The defence ministry blamed the attack on the Islamic State in the Great Sahara, or EIGS, an affiliate of ISIL, in a statement late on Friday.
EIGS had no immediate reaction to the allegation. Previous attacks in Niger were claimed by al-Qaeda affiliate groups.
The government has promised to hunt down the perpetrators and put them on trial.
The military-run government of Niger frequently fights armed groups in the region, and civilians are often victims of the violence.
Since July 2023, at least 2,400 people have been killed in Niger, according to the database of ACLED, a non-governmental organisation that gives armed conflict location and event data.
Across the greater Sahel region that encompasses several countries, hundreds of thousands more have been killed and millions displaced as armed groups attack towns and villages as well as government security outposts.
The failure of governments to restore security contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger between 2020 and 2023. All three remain under military rule despite regional and international pressure to hold elections.
Since the coups, authorities have turned away from traditional Western allies and have sought military support from Russia instead.
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