On January 2, 2021 one hundred people were killed in the attack on two villages located in Niger. Niger is a landlocked country that is located in West Africa. According to BBC, seventy people were killed in the village of Tchombangou and 30 others in Zaroumdareye. Both are near Niger’s border with Mali. These two villages were not the only ones attacked, according to BBC. Mayor Hassane said 75 other villagers were left wounded in the aftermath, and some have been evacuated for treatment in Ouallam and the capital, Niamey.

The cause of the attack is suspected to be because two Niger villagers killed two other people who were a part of a jihadist group. That statement has yet to be confirmed, according to BBC. BBC also said that since the recent events of the two men, the prime minister suspects that the jihadists group had some involvement. So far no group has come out and said they were responsible for the attack.

 This is not the first time the Niger villages have been under attack by the jihadist group. According to BBC, Areas of Niger are also facing repeated attacks by jihadists from neighbouring Nigeria, where the government is fighting an insurgency by Boko Haram. BBC also says that the violence has been so bad that France has been leading a coalition of West African and European allies against Islamist militants in the Sahel. They also say that another possible reason for the attack was because of the national elections in Niger. President Mahamadou Issoufou is stepping down after two five-year terms. It is a big change for people and according to the New York Times it is one of the deadliest elections of all time. 

According to local mayor Almou Hassane, the people who were responsible for the attacks travelled on about 100 motorcycles, split up at some point, and carried out the attacks simultaneously.  “They opened fire on everybody,” said Jahafar Koudize, who lives in one of the towns, who managed to escape. According to the New York Times, the prime Minister Rafini visited both of the villages on Sunday. He told the public that “This situation is simply horrible… but investigations will be conducted so that this crime does not go unpunished”. Mohamed Bazoum, who is running for president, also expressed his condolences on sunday to the victims. He said that the attacks “remind us that terrorist groups constitute a grave threat to cohesion within communities unlike any other”. He finished first in the first round run-off of the presidential election.

Since the shooting, security has been stepped up in Niger’s Tillabéri region, where the two villages are situated, according to BBC. There still has been no update on who the perpetrators were that attacked the villages. The authorities are working hard to find out who did it so they can get justice for those who lost their lives.