Niger attacks force hundreds to flee homes, officials say

Hundreds of people have fled villages in Niger's southwestern Dosso region after mid-July attacks that killed and wounded civilians, state media and local sources said.

A regional official told AFP that villagers had been forced to leave during the farming season because of a series of terrorist attacks. A local source told AFP that the first attacks took place in at least three villages on July 17 and left several dozen civilians dead and wounded.

State television reported that some survivors fled to the neighbouring Tahoua region, near the Nigerian border, while hundreds of others took refuge in Dogondoutchi, a major town about 100 kilometres away.

State media blamed “terrorists”, a term it uses for al-Qaeda and Islamic State, but authorities have not published a casualty toll from the attacks.

Dosso region governor Colonel Bana Alhassane said on state television on Friday that security would be stepped up so villagers could return home and continue farming.

The United Nations says Niger has more than 450,000 internally displaced people who have fled jihadist violence.