Niger Mosque Massacre by Sunni Islamists
Boutros Hussein and Kanako Mita
Modern Tokyo Times
Many nations have expressed solidarity with Niger after the brutal massacre of at least 44 civilians. This massacre happened when Sunni Islamists attacked a Muslim mosque in the environs of Kokorou.
Reuters reports, “The attack occurred during afternoon prayers in the village of Fombita in the rural commune of Kokorou, which is near the tri-border region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali known as the epicentre of a jihadist insurgency in West Africa linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.”
The Sahel region and Lake Chad are blighted by Sunni Islamist groups who are linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda. Hence, terrorism and displacement blight millions of people – with border areas being notably fragile.
In 2023, the nations of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger signed the Alliance of Sahel States. This formation developed rapidly after bellicose statements by ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) – and because of the Islamist terrorist crisis that bedevils the Sahel region.
It is known that Muslim worshippers were attacked during the afternoon – during the month of Ramadan.
Arab News reports, “Niger’s defense ministry blamed the attack on Daesh affiliate EIGS in a statement late on Friday. EIGS did not respond to the allegations.”
The EIGS (Islamic State in the Greater Sahara) has yet to confirm the massacre. However, the brutality of the attack against Muslim worshippers in Niger – similar to the massacre of Alawites, Christians, the Shia, and the enslavement of the Yazidis by ISIS – is part of their terror tactics in several nations.
Three days of mourning were declared by the military elites within the transitional government.
Lee Jay Walker (Modern Tokyo Times analyst) says, “Sunni Islamic Takfiri terrorist groups utilize Libya (North Africa) and Nigeria (West Africa) to spread regional mayhem throughout the Sahel and Lake Chad region. This concerns criminal activity, expanding terrorist networks, massacres, ambushing military convoys, the spreading of Islamist Takfiri ideology, and other ills.”
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