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UN Condemns Boko Haram Attack that Kills Refugees, Displaced People in Niger

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The U.N. refugee agency has condemned a recent attack by armed
   assailants on Toumour, a town in southeast Niger, which killed at least
   28 people and injured hundreds more.

   Aid workers are doing their best to pick up the pieces after Boko Haram
   militants savaged the town and its inhabitants during an attack on
   December 12, which lasted four hours.

   UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch says there is heightened concern for the
   safety of more than 30,000 refugees and internally displaced people
   sheltering in the town of Toumour, close to the Nigerian border.

   "According to local sources, the assailants destroyed nearly two-thirds
   of the town's homes, burned the Toumour market to the ground, and
   killed more than a thousand cattle. Following the attack, most of the
   population fled to the bush, with some people returning only at
   daytime," he said.

   Baloch says his agency and others are working with local authorities to
   provide emergency shelter, food, water and health care to the
   distraught inhabitants of Toumour. However, access to the area is
   difficult, he says because of recent heavy flooding.

   He notes many of the survivors are on the move toward Diffa, a town
   some 100 kilometers further inland. The UNHCR spokesman says Diffa,
   which currently hosts 46,000 refugees and asylum seekers, also is
   subject to vicious attacks by armed groups.

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