Nigeria: 8 people, including 6 French aid workers, killed by unidentified gunmen

SANAA, Aug 10 (YPA) – Nigerian officials said two motorbike gunmen killed six French aid workers, their guide and driver, at a Nigerian wildlife park on Sunday.

Tillaberi Governor Tijjani Ibrahim Coachella told Reuters that the group was attacked in a giraffe reserve located about 65 km west of the capital Niamey, saying that they “blocked their path and killed them.”

The Minister of Defense in Niger, Issoufou Catambi, announced that the French who were killed by the gunmen in Niger were aid workers, which was confirmed by a spokesman for the French humanitarian aid group ACTED.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The French government had warned against traveling to many areas of Niger, where militant groups, including “Boko Haram” and groups affiliated with “ISIS”, are active.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that two French were killed in Niger, adding that the president had spoken by phone with Niger’s President Mohamed Issoufou.

This year, France announced that it would reinforce its military presence in West Africa, by sending 600 soldiers to join the 4,500 troops currently present as part of its military operation there.