This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
On Sunday afternoon, armed assailants on motorbikes attacked the villages of Intazayane, Bakorat and Wirsnat in the Tahoua region of Niger. These villages are located about 50 km from the border with Mali. Some of the injured have been evacuated to the town of Tahoua, 150 kilometres from the scene of the attack.
UNHCR is assessing the needs and stands ready to provide health care and protection to those affected, while people may reach the nearby towns of Intikane, Telemces and Tahoua, where we are already providing humanitarian assistance to refugees, IDPs and vulnerable people in the host communities with our partners.
In Niger, the Tahoua and Tillaberi regions, which border Burkina Faso and Mali, are currently hosting 204,000 refugees and IDPs.
Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali in the Sahel are at the epicentre of one of the fastest growing displacement and protection crises in the world. The Sahel is already home to nearly three million refugees and IDPs.
Despite growing insecurity, Nigerians continue to show generosity to those fleeing violence in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions of Africa.
Distributed by APO Group for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
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