Niamey [Niger], September 18: Gunmen on motorbikes have shot dead 22 people, most of them attending a baptism ceremony, in an attack on a village in western Niger, reports said.
A resident told the French news agency AFP that 15 people were killed at the ceremony in Tillaberi region, which borders Mali and Burkina Faso, before moving elsewhere and killing seven others.
"While people celebrated a baptism ceremony, gunmen opened fire, sowing death and terror," local civil rights activist Maikoul Zodi said on social media.
Niger's military government has struggled to contain violence in the region, carried out by groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
Source: Qatar Tribune
