Armed bandits have killed 16 people in two separate attacks in southwestern Niger, state radio has revealed.
The reports stated that though the assailants have not been identified, the attacks were similar to jihadist raids that have plagued the central Sahel region in recent months.
State radio said Wednesday that the bandits gathered people from a village in Dioundiou on the night of February 22-23 and “opened fire, killing 14 people.”
The report stated that two nights later, attackers killed two people in a neighbouring town.
The area around Dioundiou, which borders Nigeria and Benin, is a haven for jihadist groups, according to Niger authorities.
It is crossed by a 2,000-kilometre (around 1,200-mile) pipeline that transports Niger oil to Benin.
This comes as at least 4 government-backed Katsina Community Watch Corps (KCWC) fighters have been killed in an ambush by bandits in Nigeria’s northwest Katsina State, according to authorities.
Katsina police spokesman, Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu told newsmen on Wednesday that a convoy of pro-government fighters was returning from paying condolences to the family of a dead colleague when it came under fire from bandits in the village of Baure, in the Safana district.
“Sadly, 4 persons were fatally shot as a result of the attack,” Aliyu said, adding police were seeking to “ensure the arrest of the perpetrators” of the attack, which happened on Tuesday.
Witnesses, however, told journalists that as many as eight people were killed in the attack, while many more villagers remain missing.
