Motorcycle gunmen kill at least 58 civilians on market day in Niger

No claim of responsibility has been made, though Islamic State extremists are active where the attack took place

Gunmen on motorcycles have attacked a group of civilians returning from market day in a volatile corner of Niger, leaving at least 58 people dead, and then burning granaries to the ground.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the massacres, though extremists belonging to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara group are known to be active in the Tillaberi region where the villages were attacked.