Nearly 11,000 people in jihadist-hit southwestern Niger have fled their home this month, the United Nations and local authorities said Wednesday.
“These people are running from violence perpetrated by suspected armed non-state groups found in the Tillaberi region and the tri-border zone,” where Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali meet, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Niamey said.
Local authorities in Niger’s Say department reported that over 10,800 people from nine villages in the Ouro Gueladjo area “were forced to flee their homes” from July 3-9.
More than 8,430 people had taken refuge at Ouro Gueladjo town and 2,140 nearby close to Torodi. Some 215 had arrived in the capital Niamey, another 70 kilometers (45 miles) away, OCHA and the authorities said.
The UN agency said the exodus was sparked by the killing of two villagers on the night of July 3, coupled with an ultimatum from armed groups to leave their homes within 72 hours.
Local sources said many people were sleeping in school classrooms or had been taken in by other families.
“The humanitarian situation remains precarious,” OCHA said, particularly in Ouro Gueladjo where shelter, food, medicine and drinking water were all in short supply.
The Niger government was to distribute 85 tonnes of food in the area on Wednesday.
OCHA was also trying to “facilitate access” for aid workers to Ouro Gueladjo where two army detachments have been deployed to tighten security.
The armed groups have “stepped up” their operations against local populations including the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS), murder, kidnapping, and ultimatums in the border zone with Burkina Faso, OCHA said.
The Tillaberi region has been plagued for nearly eight years by insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
The vast arid area, roughly the size of South Korea, has around 150,000 internally displaced people, according to the UN.
One of the poorest countries in the world, Niger is also struggling with jihadist violence that has spilled into its southeast from northeastern Nigeria.
