Gunmen in Niger kill 27, burn 800 houses, says U.N.

It did not say who was behind the bloodshed, but Islamist group Boko Haram has been waging attacks in the region around Lake Chad since 2009, causing around 250,000 people to flee, according to U.N. figures. "The Secretary-General regrets that this barbaric attack disrupted the peaceful holding of municipal and regional elections," it said in a statement.

Unidentified gunmen killed at least 27 people and burned 800 homes in an attack in Niger's Diffa region on Saturday, the United Nations said on Monday. It did not say who was behind the bloodshed, but Islamist group Boko Haram has been waging attacks in the region around Lake Chad since 2009, causing around 250,000 people to flee, according to U.N. figures.

"The Secretary-General regrets that this barbaric attack disrupted the peaceful holding of municipal and regional elections," it said in a statement. Authorities in Niger have not yet commented on the attack.

The Boko Haram insurgency erupted in northeastern Nigeria, but attacks frequently spill over into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon a little further to the south.