The army reported on Saturday that a police officer and four civilians were murdered in a “complex terrorist attack” in southwestern Niger. This was in a region where thousands of people have fled their homes this month to avoid jihadist violence.
According to an army statement, the attack took place on Friday afternoon and targeted “a group of paramilitary police escorting a convoy” along a road near the Burkina Faso border.
According to the statement, five individuals were murdered and 19 were injured, including seven officers, five soldiers, and seven civilians who were all transferred to Niamey, the capital.
“On the side of the enemy, two terrorists were killed,” the statement read.
The attack took place in the southwestern Tillaberi region, in the border area where Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali meet — a hotbed of activity for insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
The vast arid area, roughly the size of South Korea, has around 150,000 internally displaced people, according to the UN.
On Wednesday, the UN and local authorities said nearly 11,000 had fled their homes this month alone.
One of the poorest countries in the world, Niger is also struggling with jihadist violence that has spilled into its southeast from northeastern Nigeria.