French citizens among eight killed by gunmen in Niger
Eight people, including staff members of a French help group, were killed Sunday by gunmen riding motorcycles in an area of Niger that's home to the last West African giraffes, officials said.
"There are eight dead: two Nigerians including helpful information and a driver, as the other six happen to be French," the governor of the Tillaberi region told AFP.
The French presidency confirmed that its nationals were among the dead, without offering a figure.
The French aid group ACTED said several of its employees were among those killed during a tourist outing.
"Among the eight people killed in Niger, some were Acted staff members," said the NGO's attorney Joseph Breham.
It is thought to be the first such attack on Westerners in the area, a favorite tourist attraction found in the past French colony thanks to its unique human population of West African or perhaps Niger giraffes.
"We happen to be managing the problem, we will provide more information afterwards," governor Tidjani Ibrahim Katiella explained, without indicating who was simply behind the attack.
A source close to Niger's environmental companies said the assault occurred at around 11:30 am (1030 GMT) 6 kilometres (four kilometers) east of the city of Koure, which is an hour's travel from the administrative centre Niamey.
"The majority of the victims were shot... We identified a magazine emptied of its cartridges at the picture," the source told AFP.
"We have no idea the identity of the attackers nonetheless they came on motorcycles through the bush and waited for the arrival" of the group.
The foundation added that the victims' vehicle belonged to ACTED.
The source also explained the scene of the attack, where bodies were laid side-by-side next to a torched vehicle, which had bullet holes in its rear window.
In Paris, a spokesman for the French army said France's Barkhane force, which fights jihadists in the Sahel region, had provided support to Niger's forces.
An AFP reporter at the picture of confirmed that French fighter jets flew overhead soon after Sunday as Niger's army searched the vast wooded area.
Forensic police were collecting samples ahead of the bodies being moved before night fell, the reporter added.
The office of President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke on the telephone along with his Niger counterpart Mahamadou Issoufou.
Neighbouring Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita meanwhile strongly condemned the "barbaric act."
He lamented that "violent extremism" was nonetheless rife found in the Sahel region "despite the merciless war waged by national armies, the G5 Sahel joint forces and the Barkhane drive."
Around twenty years ago, a tiny herd of West African giraffes, a subspecies distinguished by its lighter color, found a secure haven from poachers and predators in the Koure area.
Today they number within their hundreds and are actually a key tourist appeal, enjoying the protection of local people and conservation groups.
A Western humanitarian source located in Niamey said "we all go to Koure on weekend outings because it is rather simple to access."
"Everyone moves there, even ambassadors, diplomats, teachers... it is not considered a dangerous area at all. There are NGOs protecting giraffes there," the source told AFP.
However, the Tillaberi region is definitely in a hugely unstable site, near to the borders of Mali and Burkina Faso.
The region has become a hideout for Sahel jihadist groups like the Islamic Point out in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
The usage of motorcycles has been totally banned since January so that they can curb the actions of such jihadists.
Numerous Europeans have already been abducted or killed on the volatile Sahel.
Two young Frenchmen, Antoine De Leocour and Vincent Delory, were killed after being kidnapped by jihadists from a restaurant in Niger's capital Niamey in 2011.--AFP
