At least 10 killed in southern Niger attacks – Security source

At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday in attacks on two villages in the Tillaberi region of southwest Niger, a senior security source said.

Armed “bandits” burned a school and killed three people in the village of Zibane and seven in Gabado, the source said.

Security forces are making checks at the scene and the death toll could rise, the source said.

It is not clear who carried out the attack.

Gunmen killed 137 people in coordinated raids on villages in the southwest on Sunday, one of the deadliest days in recent memory in a country ravaged by Islamist violence.

Those attacks were a few hundred miles away from Wednesday’s incident.

Islamic State’s local affiliate is active in the zone and has been blamed for previous attacks that killed dozens of civilians and soldiers.

The violence is part of a wider security crisis across West Africa’s Sahel region, which is also fuelled by militants linked to Al Qaeda and ethnic militias.