Gunmen on motorbikes raid Niger villages, kill at least 60

Newly elected President Mohamed Bazoum denounces ‘barbaric’ attacks in border region near Mali.

Attackers on motorbikes have raided three villages in southwestern Niger, killing many people in the latest attack to hit the country. The gunmen on Sunday attacked the villages of Intazayene, Bakorat and Wistane, located near the border with Mali, shooting “at everything which moved”, according to a local official. The official told AFP news agency at least 40 people had died, while a security source gave a provisional toll of 60 dead. Alfouzazi Issintag, mayor of Tillia, the rural commune to which the villages belong, also told Reuters news agency on Monday there were about 60 deaths but that he did not yet have a final toll.