An attack on a goods convoy in western Niger near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso has killed 21 civilians, local sources said on Saturday.

"Twenty-one civilians were killed in this attack on transport vehicles on December 5 by armed men," a local source said on condition of anonymity, with state radio confirming the attack by "armed bandits", without giving a toll.

Another local source also reported 21 deaths in the same attack, without giving further details.

State broadcaster La Voix du Sahel said the convoy was heading back to Bankilare from a weekly market in Tera when it was intercepted by armed bandits in the early evening just north of the town.

"Several civilians (were) murdered in cold blood," the radio bulletin added.

On Friday, the governor of the Tillaberi region, Colonel Maina Boukar, attended the funeral of the victims in Tera and "presented the condolences of the authorities" to their families, state radio also reported.

According to monitoring group Acled, which records the victims of conflicts around the world, some 1,500 civilians and soldiers have died in militant attacks in Niger over the past year, compared with 650 between July 2022 and 2023.

The borderlands between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have long been a hideout for Sahelian militants linked to Daesh and Al Qaeda, who have waged a bloody insurgent war against the government. (AFP, excluding headline)