Not less than 20 persons have been killed in attacks by gunmen on several villages in Niger, local authorities say.

Tidjani Ibrahim Katiella, governor of Tillaberi region, said the assailants were riding motorbikes during the incidents on Saturday.

The unidentified group reportedly looted shops, stole cattle and ordered village inhabitants to flee.

Since 2017 a state of emergency has been in place in Tillaberi, which borders Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are all struggling to cope with a jihadist insurgency, with numerous different militant groups moving between the three countries.

Three UN peacekeepers were killed and four wounded in an attack in northern Mali’s Kidal region on Sunday.