The assailants struck on Sunday in a village lying in the Tillaberi region, located in the so-called tri-border area — a flashpoint zone where the frontiers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali converge.
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Jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have made the region a fiefdom, carrying out deadly attacks for nearly a decade.
“On Sunday, armed individuals killed 31 of our residents in Bosiye; 30 died on the spot, and one of the five wounded succumbed at a health centre,” a resident told AFP.
A local student union also confirmed the toll in a statement, saying it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by “this odious and barbaric act”.
In September, the mayor of Gorouol, the local area where Bosiye is located, who had been appointed by the military authorities, was killed in an ambush.
The Tillaberi region became the “deadliest region across central Sahel” in 2025, according to ACLED, an NGO that monitors conflicts.
AFP