Three suicide bombers killed at least six people in separate attacks in the southeastern Niger city of Diffa near the border with Nigeria, shattering several months of calm in the troubled region.
The attacks occurred at the regional capital that is a frequent target of the Boko Haram jihadist group, the interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Three terrorists blew themselves up in the Diffa Koura neighbourhood, leaving six people dead and 37 wounded, including eight seriously,” the ministry said.
It added that the attackers, a man and two girls, also died “on the spot”.
A local official speaking on condition of anonymity had told AFP earlier that nine people had been killed, including the three attackers.
Ibrahim Amadou, a resident, said the three detonations were “almost simultaneous” in Koura, an old district of the city, with one near the Koranic school, one near a mosque and the third by a shop.
People are afraid, “but they aren’t giving in to panic,” Amadou said.
Another resident, Ari Maman, said he and others were surprised the attacks happened in the heavily secured city of around 600 000. “We expect attacks across the region, except in the heart of the city,” he told AFP.
Security forces have cordoned off the sites and were carrying out search operations throughout the city, a security source said.
The attacks came as Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou arrived in Paris for an official visit Monday. He was to continue to Brussels Tuesday.
They also follow several months of calm in the Diffa region which since February 2015 has suffered numerous attacks by Boko Haram based across the border in northeast Nigeria.
In late April, Niamey announced a military operation against Boko Haram in the region of Lake Chad, which links Niger, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon.
The group, which is seeking an Islamic state based on Sharia law, has caused the deaths of at least 20 000 people since it took up arms in 2009 in Nigeria.
Some 2.4 million people have been displaced in northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
