A pair had been killed in southwest Niger this week after armed people fired into the air inside a church, locals informed AFP on Friday.
The incident occurred within the Dosso area of Niger, a Sahel nation that has been plagued for a decade by a battle pitting the navy in opposition to fighters mentioned to be linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
ACLED, a non-governmental organisation monitoring conflicts all over the world, mentioned almost 2,000 individuals had died because of such violence in Niger this 12 months.
“The assault occurred in Mailo village at round 11:00 pm on Wednesday night time. Christians had been attending mass within the church when armed people got here in and fired into the air. There was panic,” an area requesting anonymity informed AFP.
“A person and his spouse ran and hid of their home however (the assailants) adopted them they usually had been killed.”
One other native mentioned a few of the churchgoers had fled to neighbouring villages and others had headed for the bush.
He mentioned the attackers had made off with cattle.
Relations between Christians and Muslims in Niger are typically peaceable.
Suspected jihadists are nonetheless blamed for assaults on church buildings within the western area of Tillaberi between 2018 and 2021, and the killing of 111 Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi this 12 months.