The UN Refugee Agency, (UNHCR) has condemned in the strongest terms the twin attacks in western Niger that killed at least 100 people, injured 25 others, and forced hundreds to flee on 2 January.

Armed groups mounted coordinated attacks on the villages of Tchamo-Bangou and Zaroumdareye, in Niger’s Tillaberi region near the border with Mali. 

Some of the injured were evacuated to Ouallam and Niamey.

UNHCR’s Representative in Niger, Alessandra Morelli said in a statement that communities which are now torn apart by brutality have been forced to flee in a region where tens of thousands of people displaced by violence are hosted and hoping to rebuild their lives.