NIAMEY, Niger
More than 13,000 women and children have fled islands on the Niger River in western Niger following "atrocities" carried out by jihadists, state radio said on Tuesday.
The exodus notably follows an
attack on Saturday night in which four people in the district of Dessa were
killed and a fifth wounded, the Voix du Sahel (Voice of the Sahel) said.
Women and children fleeing the
remote islands have sought safety in Ayorou, a town 200 kilometers from the
Nigerien capital, Niamey, it said.
The station blamed
"atrocities... (by) armed bandits" - a term typically used for
suspected jihadists.
But local sources said there
had been a surge in ethnic violence in the area that had been fuelled by
jihadists.
Inhabitants said that in late
April, clashes broke out between riverside farmers from the Djerma community
and nomadic Fulani herders, leaving several dead. The two groups usually live
peacefully side by side.
A local journalist said
jihadists were the cause of the violence, inflaming tensions by killing
villagers, stealing cattle and demanding a "tax" from inhabitants.
An elected official in Ayorou
said that "before the clashes, armed men on motorbikes gave an ultimatum
to the farmers, telling them to leave their homes."
The area lies in the western
region of Tillaberi, which is grappling with a jihadist insurgency that swept
in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.
Niger is also struggling in
the southeast with jihadist insurgents from Nigeria.
The impoverished Sahel state
is supported by a number of western countries, including France and the United
States, which both have military bases there.
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