At least 40 people were killed in raids on villages near Niger's border with Mali, a zone notorious for jihadist attacks, local and security sources told AFP Monday. "Armed men arrived on motorbikes and shot at everything which moved. They attacked Intazayene, Bakoarate and Wistane and surrounding areas" on Sunday, a local official said, in an account confirmed by a security source. On March 15, 66 people were killed in the same region -- the so-called "tri-border area" where the frontiers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali converge. bh-stb/ck/sst/ri/wdb