30 killed in unidentified airstrike on Niger village

An airstrike by an unidentified aircraft has left as many as 30 people dead during a funeral ceremony in a village in Niger close to the Nigerian border.

Local officials and humanitarian sources said on Wednesday that the attack had taken place by an unidentified plane a day earlier. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the strike.

Nigeria, which is involved in fighting with Takfiri Boko Haram militants, also denied responsibility. “It's not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident,” Air Commodore Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria's air force, said.

Local officials put death toll at 31 or 32 with 20 others injured. Niger is a party to a regional operation in the area against Boko Haram militants.

The Western African country has so far seen several bomb attacks blamed on Boko Haram, whose militancy has spilled over the Nigerian borders and extended to neighboring countries.

On Tuesday, thousands of people staged a massive demonstration in Niger’s capital city of Niamey to protest against the cross-border attacks by Boko Haram Takfiri militants.

Niger’s security forces recently arrested more than 160 people suspected of having links to the militant group in Diffa region, an area bordering Nigeria.

The five countries of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin have pledged to set up an 8,700-strong force to fight the Boko Haram militancy.

In a meeting on February 16, leaders from Niger and other African countries gathered in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to finalize plans for a joint offensive against the Nigeria-based militants.

The meeting, which pledged to create an 86-million-dollar fund to fight the group, called on the international community to provide more support in the fighting against the Takfiri militants.

Boko Haram waged its brutal militancy six years ago and the conflict that has killed over 13,000 people.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 650,000 Nigerians have fled their homes due to Boko Haram violence and are displaced inside the African country, while thousands of others have taken refuge in neighboring countries.