3 Civilians killed as attackers storm Niger refugee camp - Africa News
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3 Civilians killed as attackers storm Niger refugee camp

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3 Civilians killed as attackers storm Niger refugee camp

At least three civilians have been reportedly killed in a coordinated attack on a camp housing thousands of Malian refugees in western Niger, according to Africa-News.
Some 50 fighters launched a “well-planned operation” against the Intikane refugee camp in the Tahoua region on Sunday afternoon, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Niamey reports.
The three victims were the head of a refugee committee, the head of a refugee vigilance group and a representative of a Tahoua nomadic group, the UNHCR said on Monday.
The attackers also abducted a guard and sabotaged the camp’s water supply.
Niger is home to nearly 60,000 Malian refugees who fled their country’s north after it fell under the control of al-Qaeda-linked groups in 2012, according to the UN. A French-led military intervention the following year pushed them out, but parts of Mali remain out of government control and awash with armed groups.
Niger has also endured unrest in its southeast from Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province, a breakaway group from Boko Haram.
In January, the UN envoy for West Africa told the UN Security Council that attacks have increased fivefold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016, with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 2019. Africa-News reports.

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