At least 70 civilians were killed in simultaneous attacks on two villages by suspected militants in Niger, near the border zone with Mali, security sources said.
About 49 villagers were killed and 17 people wounded in the village of Tchombangou, said one of the security sources, who requested anonymity.
A second source, a senior official in Niger's interior ministry who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that around 30 other villagers had been killed in the village of Zaroumdareye.
Niger's government was not immediately available to comment.
The West African nation has previously suffered attacks by militants linked to al Qaeda and the IS. Attacks near the western border with Mali and Burkina Faso, and the southeastern border with Nigeria, killed hundreds of people last year.
Omani navy rescues cargo ship crew after missile strike
UN 'deeply disturbed' by strike on Iran school that killed 160 children
Saudi confirms attempted attack on oil refinery, no damage
At least four killed in Israeli strike on building in Lebanon's Baalbek
Kuwait announces death of child from shrapnel wound
