At least 56 dead in suspected terror attack in Niger

Agencies | Niamey

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Gunmen have killed at least 56 civilians and wounded 20 more in a suspected terror attack in Niger, the country's interior minister said late on Saturday.

Interior Minister Alkache Alhada said the attack took place in the villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye near the border with Mali. Further details of the attack were not immediately clear, the dpa reported.

One of the countries in the embattled Sahel in West Africa, Niger has experienced increasing attacks as fundamentalist groups battle for control of the region.

Groups with suspected link to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have destabilized the Sahel shared between Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania.

Authorities have found it difficult to control the isolated region along the Sahara Desert. This instability also makes the region a thoroughfare for migrants to Europe. The United Nations Mission to Mali, Minusma, along with France and the United States have supported anti-terror efforts in the region.

The attack comes as Niger counts the results of a December 27 election. Partial results announced on Saturday show a lead in the legislative seats for the ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism.

With no outright winner in the presidential election, ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum, who earned 39.6 per cent of the vote, and opposition candidate Mahamane Ousmane, who won 16.9 per cent, will head into a run-off in February.

Ousmane was Niger's first democratically elected president until he was ousted in a coup in 1996. Bazoum is an ally of outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is stepping down after two terms.