At least 39 people killed in latest twin attacks in western Niger

At least thirty-nine people have been killed in two attacks in recent days in western Niger, near the border with Burkina Faso, Niamey's defence ministry said.

"Two horrific tragedies happened in the communities of Libiri and Kokorou, criminals cornered by constant operations by defence and security forces launched attacks on defenceless civilian populations," the defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The "barbaric acts" saw 21 people killed in Libiri and 18 in Kokorou, including children, the ministry said.

The operations took place from December 12 to 14, the statement said without detailing when the attacks happened.

Bloody attacks

The communities are located in the Tera border region, an area teeming with fighters which has been subjected to particularly bloody militant attacks in recent days.

The frontier lands between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have long been a hideout for militants linked to Daesh and Al Qaeda, who have waged an insurgent war against the government.

One of the latest attacks saw gunmen kill 21 civilians in an assault on a goods convoy, local sources said on December 7.

On Wednesday, both the BBC and RFI reported that militants had killed 90 soldiers and over 40 civilians in Tera's Chatoumane.

Niger's junta dismissed reports of the attack and deaths as "baseless assertions" and a "campaign of intoxication".