Six French tourists visiting a giraffe sanctuary in West Africa were killed Sunday in an ambush carried out by suspected terrorists on motorcycles, according to reports.
Two others were also killed in the bloody attack – a local tour guide and a driver.
It happened in Niger in the Koure Giraffe Reserve in Niger. The region attracts foreign tourists who want to see the latest herds of giraffes in West Africa, according to the BBC.
But the area is also home to several militant groups including Boko Haram, according to the BBC. Other terrorist groups operating in Koure have links to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
A picture taken on August 14, 2010 in Koure, next to Niamey, shows Giraffes running in the bush. Two giraffes among the last in West Africa, which survived in southwestern Niger, fell victim to wildlife for the first time in 20 years, according to the environment and wildlife officials.
(Boureima HAMA / AFP via Getty Images)
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Agence France-Presse confirmed the attack after talking to Tillaberi region governor Tidjani Ibrahim Katiella.
“We are managing the situation, we will provide more information later,” he said.
The reports also sent out an interview with a source with ties to the Nigerian government who said most of the victims had been shot.
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“We found a magazine empty of its cartridges at the scene,” the source said. “We do not know the identity of the attackers, but they came on motorcycles through the bush and waited for the arrival of the tourists.”
The source told AFP that the tourists were driving in a car belonging to the French humanitarian organization ACTED.
Images showed bodies lying near a flared off-road car, which had bullet holes in its rear window, the AFP reported.
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The government tried in January to restrict the movements of jihadists by banning motorcycles.
