Niger: Dozens killed in village attack

Assailants on motorbikes killed 37 people, including 14 children, in Tillaberi region, according to interior ministry.

More than 30 people were killed in a rebel attack in the West African country of Niger, the Ministry of Interior has said.

Armed assailants on motorcycles attacked the village of Darey Dey in the Tillaberi region close to the border with Mali on Monday and killed 37 people, including 14 children, according to the ministry.

The assailants attacked as people were working in the fields, a local official told the AFP news agency.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack but several armed groups linked to al-Qaeda or ISIL (ISIS) are active in the region.

Rated the world’s poorest country by the UN’s Human Development Index, Niger lies in the heart of the arid Sahel region of West Africa, which is battling a nine-year-old rebellion.

The bloodshed began in northern Mali in 2012 and then spread to the centre of the country before hitting neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Tillaberi has borne the brunt of the crisis.