Two civilians killed in armed attack in western Niger

NIAMEY — Two civilians were killed and two others wounded in a suspected terrorist attack Friday on a position of the Nigerien Defense and Security Forces, at the entrance of the town of Gaya in western Niger, the army said Sunday.

The civilians were doing road maintenance work when they were attacked by an armed group of about 15 people, the army said in a bulletin.

“Alerted as soon as the first shots were fired, reinforcements were immediately dispatched to the scene. However, by the time they arrived, the attackers had retreated into neighboring Nigeria,” the bulletin said.

In some of its border regions, Niger has been experiencing attacks by armed groups controlling southern Libya, including terror groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the Boko Haram militant Islamist group.

XINHUA