Niamey – Thousands of people have fled a camp hosting 20 000 Malian refugees in western Niger after a deadly jihadist attack devastated the site, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Around 50 jihadists on motorbikes killed three local leaders, abducted a guard, destroyed communication antennas and sabotaged the water supply at the Intikane site near the Malian border in a co-ordinated attack on Monday.
Intikane is home to around 20 000 Malian refugees and 15 000 internally displaced Niger citizens – all of whom previously fled their villages due to jihadist violence – as well as the local population.
The jihadists "attacked the sensitive points of the site – they cut communication lines to isolate the population and they destroyed the sources for drinking water," he told the national public radio station after visiting Intikane.
Niger is home to nearly 60 000 Malian refugees who fled their country's north after it fell under the control of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups in 2012, according to the UN.
