Three days of mourning after deadly mosque attack

The Government of Niger declared three days of mourning following an attack on a mosque in the country’s southwest that killed at least 44 people, reports Al Jazeera. The victims were killed in a ‘savage’ armed assault in the rural border town of Kokorou, the Interior Ministry said. The ministry said another 13 people were wounded. West Africa’s Sahel region has seen an uptick in violence in recent years following the rise of armed fighters linked to the al-Qaeda and Isil (Isis) armed groups that took over territory in north Mali after the 2012 Tuareg rebellion. Since then, it has spread into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, and more recently into the north of coastal West African countries such as Togo and Ghana. Niger’s Interior Ministry said the latest attack occurred early in the afternoon as people were attending a prayer service during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The military-run government of Niger frequently fights armed groups in the region, and civilians are often victims of the violence.

Full Al Jazeera report