At least 27 killed in latest Boko Haram attack in Niger

Terrorists from the Boko Haram group have killed at least 27 people in an attack of “unprecedented savagery” in southeast Niger, local officials said.

Other people were wounded and some more reported missing in the assault on Saturday evening in the village of Toumour in the Diffa region, said a senior local official.

According to Press TV, witnesses and other officials confirmed the attack, which came hours before municipal and regional elections went ahead across the country on Sunday.

“Some victims were killed or wounded by bullets, others were burnt inside their houses, consumed by the flames of an enormous fire set by the attackers,” said the official.

Between 800 and 1,000 houses, the central market and numerous vehicles were also destroyed in the fire, he added.

Roughly 70 attackers arrived at Toumour at around 17:45 GMT on foot, having swum across Lake Chad, said the official.

The attack itself lasted three hours, according to AFP.

“They first attacked the residence of the traditional chief, who only just managed to escape,” he said.

“It was an attack of unprecedented savagery,” said a local elected official who asked not to be named. “Nearly 60 percent of the village has been destroyed.”

In November, Boko Haram terrorists killed at least 110 Nigerian civilians, including dozens of farm workers, and injured several others in the volatile northeastern state of Borno, according to the UN. Several women were also kidnapped in the raid.

ME