Gunmen have killed six French aid workers, a Nigerien guide and a driver in a wildlife park in Niger, according to officials in the West African country was attacked on Sunday
“They were intercepted and killed,” Tidjani Ibrahim Katiella, the governor of Tillaberi region, told Reuters news agency.
The six worked for an international aid group, Niger’s Defence Minister Issoufou Katambe told Reuters. ACTED, an aid group, confirmed its staff members were targeted in the attack.
Officials had earlier described the French nationals as tourists. In a statement, the Association of Koure Giraffe Reserve Guides described the attackers as a “unit of terrorists” and said the dead included its president, Kadri Abdou.
“We do not know the identity of the attackers but they came on motorcycles through the bush and waited for the arrival of the tourists.”
