At least 132 people were killed and 40 were injured in an overnight attack by Islamist’s militants on the village of Solhan, located in the northern Yagha province, which borders Niger. The attackers also burned homes and the local market. As news of the attack--the deadliest since 2015—broke, the government declared a 72-hour period of national mourning. Though no group has yet to claim responsibility, attacks by jihadists groups linked to Al-Qaida and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in West Africa's Sahel region, have increased sharply since the beginning of the year, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The violence in Burkina Faso has displaced more than 1.14 million people in just over two years, while the poor arid country is also hosting some 20,000 refugees from neighboring Mali who are seeking safety from jihadist attacks.

At around at around 3 pm local time, an armed gang on motorcycles, raided the private Salihu Tanko Islamic school, located in the town of Tegina in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger state and kidnapped about 150 students. According to the school owner, some 300 students both boys and girls, aged between 7 and 15, attend the school. During the attack, on person was killed and another was severely wounded According to Niger state governor spokeswoman, shortly after the mass kidnapping, the kidnappers released 11 of the children as they were too young small and couldn't walk. She added that the same gang attacked a passenger bus and kidnapped an unspecified number of passengers. Armed groups have repeatedly attacked schools and universities in northwest Nigeria in the last few months, abducting more than 700 students for ransom since December 2020.Unlike most of the schools attacked, Salihu Tanko Islamic school, was not a boarding school and the students go home after school hours. (reuters.com, 31 May 2021)

At least three people were killed in a roadside IED blast in the Garasbaley neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu. The IED reportedly went off as a convoy carrying the commissioner of Garasbaley was passing by, killing the commissioner and two of his bodyguards. Though no group has claimed the responsibility for the attack, security officials blamed the al-Shabaab jihadists group.

At around 4 pm local time, a suicide car bomber detonated a VBIED packed with mortar shells outside the Sayed ul Shuhada High School in the western Dasht-e-Barchi district of Kabul. At least 65 people, mostly female students, were killed in the blast and 165 were wounded. President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban insurgent group for carrying out the attack, but the group’s spokesman denied the insurgent group’s involvement and condemned the attack. The school is located in a Shiite Hazara ethnic minority neighborhood, which had been frequently targeted by the Islamic State branch known as Khorasan Province (IS-K). The attack came as Kabul is on high alert since US President Biden announced plans last month to pull out all US troops by September 11, after which the Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country.