France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor opened an investigation on Monday into “murder in connection with terrorism” over Sunday's attack on humanitarian workers in Niger, in which eight people were killed including six French citizens.
French humanitarian aid group ACTED said at a press conference on Monday that the eight of its staff killed by gunmen in Niger on Sunday included four women and four men.
"We want to protect the victims' anonymity for now, but we can say they were aged 25 to 50 and included four women and four men," ACTED development director Frederic Roussel told a news conference in Paris.
The prosecutor’s office is delegating the investigation to the DGSI – France’s internal intelligence agency, equivalent to Britain’s MI5 – and SDAT, the French police’s national counter-terror unit.
French and Nigerien soldiers on Monday combed a wildlife reserve in Niger and the surrounding area for traces of the gunmen who killed the aid workers, a French military source told Reuters.
The unidentified gunmen, who rode on motorbikes, attacked the group in a giraffe reserve just 65 km (40 miles) from the capital Niamey. A Nigerien guide and a local driver employed by ACTED were also killed.
ACTED said in a statement the group had been "senselessly and cowardly murdered by armed individuals".
Thus far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But France and other countries have warned people against travelling to parts of Niger where militants including Boko Haram and an affiliate of Islamic State operate.
"Military operations are ongoing today," the military source said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the families' grief and tweeted: "Our determination to combat armed terrorist groups is resolute. The fight continues."
The reserve southeast of the capital is a popular attraction in Niger, a vast country that borders seven states in an unstable region including Libya, Mali, Chad, Algeria and Nigeria.
France started its military operations there in 2013, after Mali asked it to help regain territory seized by Islamist extremists who had hijacked a Touareg rebellion in the country’s northern desert regions the previous year.
The French military succeeded in this initial task – but the jihadist insurgency has since spread throughout Mali and across the border to Niger and Burkina Faso.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
