Ceremony of the Baptero Storm Storm in Niger, kill 22 …

Monday, armed men riding the bikes killed 22 inhabitants of the village in the western Niger.

According to the group, “most of them have gathered for a baptism ceremony, local media and security sources confirmed Tuesday.

The attack occurred in the village of Takoubatt, in the Tillaberi region near the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali, an area afflicted by jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

According to a resident who spoke anonymously for safety reasons, the assaulting players opened fire for the first time at the headquarters of Baptism, killing 15 people.

They later targeted the outskirts of the village, where seven other victims were killed.

The local broadcaster Elmaestro TV described the murders as a “gruesome death of 22 innocent people killed without reason or justification”.

Pensioners set the date for the naked protest at national level

The human rights activist Maikoul Zodi also condemned violence, stating that the Tillaberi region had been again “affected by barbarism, immersing innocent families in mourning and despair”.

The Niger’s military government, which seized power in a coup two years ago, fought to contain Islamist insurgents despite having deployed a strong presence on safety in Tillaberi. Just last week, about 20 soldiers killed in the same region were reported.

Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to intensify the Civil Protection, observing that the Islamic State group summarily performed more than 127 inhabitants and worshipers of villages in Tillaberi in five accidents separated from March.

The conflict tracking organization welcomed the estimates that almost 1,800 people have been killed in violent attacks in Niger since October 2024, with three quarters of the deaths recorded in the Tillaberi alone.

The Niger, together with the nearby Mali and Burkina Faso, also under military domain, has expelled the French and American forces who had witnessed the counter-insurrection operations, citing a movement towards “sovereign” policies. [Prompt News]

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