Niger’s government said Boko Haram militants have killed at least 38 people in southeast of the country, with most of the victims women and children.
“Members of the Boko Haram militant group have attacked the villages of Lamana and Ngoumao ... The initial death toll is 38 civilians, among them 14 men, 14 women and 10 children,” Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou announced on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.
The villages attacked by the extremists are located in the Gueskerou area of Diffa Province near Nigeria, parts of whose northeast are under Boko Haram control.
The latest attack is the deadliest in Niger by the insurgent group since a raid in April on an island in the West African country’s side of Lake Chad killed 74 people, 46 of them soldiers.
Massaoudou said Boko Haram had also set fire to more than 100 homes in its latest raid.
A double suicide attack blamed on the group caused carnage in Chad’s capital N’Djamena on Monday, killing 33 people and wounding more than 100 others.
The armies of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been fighting a joint campaign against Boko Haram for several months.
