At least five people were killed and five were injured in a mosque in Niger, a West African country. The country's government has declared a three-day mourning to commemorate the victims in the southwest of Niger. The Niger Home Ministry referred to the attack as 'barbaric' in a statement broadcast on state television on Friday.
Qatar -based media reported al -Jazira report that the attack took place in the city of Kokoru, a remote area of Niger. The country's Home Ministry said the attackers surrounded the mosque and carried out 'horrific genocide'. The attackers set fire to a local market and some houses.
The Niger Defense Ministry blamed the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS) for the attack on Friday night. EIGS is an allied group of Islamic State (IS). However, the EIGS has not yet responded to the allegations.
In the last few years, violence has increased in the Sahel region of West Africa; Especially after the rise of armed groups associated with al-Qaeda and ISIL. After the Tuareg uprising in 2002, these groups were dominated in northern Mali and later spread to Niger and Burkina Faso. Recently, the violence has spread to the north of coastal West African countries like Togo and Ghana.
According to the ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project), at least 2,000 people have been killed in Niger since July 2021. Millions of people were killed and millions of people were displaced throughout the Sahele region.
Meanwhile, due to the failure of the government to restore security, there was a military coup in Mali between 2021 and 2021, two in Burkina Faso and a military coup in Niger. All three countries are under military rule despite regional and international pressure. After the military coup, the authorities of these countries have moved away from the traditional Western allies and sought military assistance from Russia.
