Islamic State kills dozens in mosque attack

Suspected attackers from the “Islamic State” militia in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) massacred worshippers at a mosque in southwestern Niger, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Deaths in terrorist attacks have been on the rise since a coup in 2023 that saw the country end military cooperation with most of its former counter-terrorism partners.

What do we know about the Niger mosque attack?

“Around 2 p.m., while Muslim worshippers were performing Friday prayers, these heavily armed terrorists, with American M16 weapons, surrounded the mosque to carry out their massacre of rare cruelty,” an Interior Ministry statement read.

It added that the gunmen also set fire to a market and houses before retreating.

While the death toll stood at 44 on Saturday, authorities said 13 people had also been injured, four of them seriously.

Niger’s military-led transitional government declared three days of national mourning for victims of the attack. More than 99% of the country’s approximately 28 million inhabitants are Muslim.

Two days before the mosque attack, Niger’s army claimed to have killed 45 ISGS members.

Why are attacks on the rise?

The massacre happened in Fambita, which is in Niger’s southwestern Tillaberi. The area borders Mali and Burkina Faso with the triangle around the border of the three nations a stronghold for terrorist groups.

Mali and Burkina Faso have also undergone military coups that saw juntas sever ties with Western allies such as former colonial power France in favour of Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military company, deployed to protect the country’s assets.

While all three countries have pledged to strengthen their cooperation with a new security pact, forming the Alliance of Sahel States, the region’s security situation has significantly worsened since the juntas came to power.