Niger: dozens dead after ‘horrific’ attacks near Burkina Faso border

“Barbaric” attacks in two locations along Niger’s border with Burkina Faso have killed 39 people, including children, Niamey’s defense ministry has said, blaming “criminals” for massacring defenseless civilian populations.
The two latest attacks occurred in the borderlands between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali that have long been home to armed insurgents linked to the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group who have waged a war against the junta-led government. According to the Niamey’s defense ministry, the “barbaric acts” saw 21 people killed in Libiri and 18 in Kokorou communities located in the Tera border region, which has been subjected to particularly bloody jihadist attacks in recent days.
“Cornered by constant operations by defense and security forces,” which took place from 12-14 December, the “criminals … launched attacks on defenseless civilian populations,” the defense ministry said in a statement. In one of the latest attacks, gunmen killed 21 civilians in an assault on a goods convoy, AFP reported. In another one, the RFI and BBC reported 90 soldiers and over 40 civilians killed by jihadists in Tera’s Chatoumane. But Niger’s military government dismissed these reports of the attack and deaths as “baseless assertions” and a “campaign of intoxication” and suspended BBC radio for three months.