French Citizens Among Eight Killed By Gunmen In Niger

(@FahadShabbir)

French citizens among eight killed by gunmen in Niger

Koure, Niger, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Aug, 2020 ) :Eight people, including employees of a French aid group, were killed Sunday by gunmen riding motorcycles in an area of Niger that is home to the last West African giraffes, officials said.

"There are eight dead: two Nigeriens including a guide and a driver, while the other six are French," the governor of the Tillaberi region told AFP.

The French presidency confirmed that its nationals were among the dead, without giving a figure.

The French aid group ACTED said several of its workers were among those killed during a tourist outing.

"Among the eight people killed in Niger, several were Acted employees," said the NGO's lawyer Joseph Breham.

It is believed to be the first such attack on Westerners in the area, a popular tourist attraction in the former French colony thanks to its unique population of West African or Niger giraffes.

"We are managing the situation, we will give more information later," governor Tidjani Ibrahim Katiella said, without indicating who was behind the attack.

A source close to Niger's environmental services said the assault took place at around 11:30 am (1030 GMT) six kilometres (four miles) east of the town of Koure, which is an hour's drive from the capital Niamey.

"Most of the victims were shot... We found a magazine emptied of its cartridges at the scene," the source told AFP.

"We do not know the identity of the attackers but they came on motorcycles through the bush and waited for the arrival" of the group.

The source added that the victims' vehicle belonged to ACTED.