Drone attack on jihadists: About 50 civilians killed in conflict in Niger Middle East: US Secretary of State Blinken holds talks in Jordan and Qatar

In Niger, West Africa, civilians have been killed in the army’s battle against jihadists. Several residents of the village of Tyawa and their relatives told the German Press Agency on Sunday that around 50 people were killed in a drone strike on Friday evening. The Nigerien military government spoke on television on Saturday evening about civilian casualties in the village near the border with Burkina Faso, but did not provide a figure.

Accordingly, the military responded to an attack from terrorist groups with the airstrike. Bodies of villagers were subsequently found, the report said. The information cannot initially be independently verified. Village officials said they would release names and photos of the dead.

Niger is located in the Sahel region next to Mali and Burkina Faso and is terrorized by armed groups linked to, among others, the terrorist militias Al Qaeda and Islamic State. The border area between the three states is one of the most dangerous regions in the world. After a coup in July, Niger, like its two neighbors, is ruled by a self-appointed transitional government under military leadership. Troops of former colonial power France, who had been helping to combat terrorism in the region for a decade, subsequently left the country in the dispute. The US and Germany recently indicated that they will continue military cooperation under certain conditions. (sda/dpa)