Armed group kills 22 people at christening in Niger

At least 22 people were killed on Monday, September 15, in an attack by gunmen on motorcycles on a christening ceremony in western Niger, residents and international media reported. The assault took place in the village of Takoubat in the Tillabéri region, an area bordering Burkina Faso and Mali where jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State operate.

According to witnesses quoted by AFP and EFE, the attackers opened fire on the baptism attendees, killing 15 people, and then killed seven others in the vicinity of the village. "While people were celebrating a baptism ceremony, armed men opened fire, sowing death and terror," Maikoul Zodi, a local civil rights activist, denounced on social networks.

The Nigerian Defense and Security Forces (FDS) deployed in the area launched a manhunt operation to try to capture those responsible. The authorities have confirmed the attack, but have not yet published an official death toll.

The assault comes just six days after an ambush in which fourteen Nigerian soldiers were killed in the same region while pursuing a group of armed men stealing cattle. Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have denounced that since March armed groups have intensified their attacks, killing at least 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers; in addition, homes have been looted and burned.

Niger, ruled since July 2023 by a military junta following the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum, is experiencing spiraling violence in the Sahel. Despite the junta's promise to restore security, attacks against civilians and security forces continue to increase.

A pro-democracy coalition launched this month in Niamey criticized the "failure" of the military authorities to curb insecurity and demanded free elections and an end to restrictions on political parties and trade unions.

The Tillabéri region has become one of the epicenters of this violence, with indiscriminate attacks that have left rural communities in fear, displacement and loss of livelihoods.