In Niger; Eight people, including several French members of an NGO, died in an attack. A defense council will be held Tuesday morning “under the authority of the President of the Republic”.
Emmanuel Macron denounced, on Sunday 9 August, “the murderous attack which cowardly hit a group of humanitarian workers” in Niger. The President of the Republic affirmed that “all means” will be used to “clarify” the circumstances of this “attack”; which killed eight people, six Frenchmen, their driver, and a tourist guide, both Nigeriens. The attack took place in the Kouré region about 50 kilometers from the country’s capital, Niamey; according to the Elysée Palace.
The head of state, who spoke with his Nigerien counterpart Mahamadou Issoufou, added that “their determination to continue the joint fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel” remained “intact”. The Elysée specifies, in its communiqué, that a defense council will be held on Tuesday morning “under the authority of the President of the Republic and on the basis of information to be transmitted by the Nigerien and French authorities”.
Several employees of the NGO Acted
Emmanuel Macron expressed “his condolences and the support of the French nation to the families and loved ones of the victims”. The communiqué does not specify the number of French people killed in the attack. Official Nigerien sources said the attack had left eight dead, including six French and two Nigerien. The NGO Acted reported in the evening that “several employees” had been killed.
The Kouré region has been a tourist attraction in Niger for some 20 years; when a small herd of Peralta giraffes, a species that had disappeared from the rest of the world, fleeing poachers and predators, settled there. The area is shown in orange on the map issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is “not recommended to travel there unless there is an imperative reason”. Joseph Brenham, the lawyer for the NGO Acted, said on Franceinfo that the victims were “in the most Zen place in Niger, 45 minutes from the capital by car (…) all expatriates go to this place, for the first time there was an attack”.
Source: Franceinfo
