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Gunmen on motorbikes killed 22 civilians, most of them attending a naming ceremony, in an raid on a community in the west of Niger, reports say.

A eyewitness informed international press that 15 attendees were fatally shot at the event in the western border area, that is adjacent to Mali and Burkina Faso, then proceeding to a different area and taking the lives of seven more individuals.

"During the time people celebrated a baptism ceremony, armed men unleashed bullets, sowing fatalities and panic," stated a local human rights activist.

The country's military government has had challenges to control militant unrest in the area, carried out by groups associated with al-Qaeda and Daesh.

Regional news sources also stated a "gruesome number of fatalities of two dozen innocent people brutally slain without reason or motive".

Niger's government have verified there was an incident in the region but have not provided any victim statistics.

In the past few days, an international watchdog stated that jihadist networks had increased attacks in the region since March, arbitrarily murdering over dozens of residents and Muslim worshippers.

Many of houses have been looted and destroyed by fire during the identical timeframe, the organization noted.

The group criticized authorities for not properly responding to threats of attacks and disregarding calls for help by residents.

Recently, over a dozen Nigerien troops were slain in an surprise attack in the Tillabéri region, a figure that the military disclosed in its periodic communication.

Authorities reported one of its squads was sent in response to information of a cattle robbery by armed men, but the operation turned out to be "a trap".

This remains frequently challenging to reliably verify the true numbers of casualties in similar incidents because of security barriers and the fear of backlash among observers and regional press.

A regional activist asked why ordinary people were still being subjected to such violence, and called on the administration to prioritise the security and dignity of residents.

"Now is the occasion for tangible solutions, reinforce official presence in threatened zones, and show that all national life counts," the spokesperson wrote on digital channels.

The country has been ruled by military control from last year when General Abdourahmane Tchiani removed the nation's popularly voted President, Mohamed Bazoum.

Its adjacent nations Burkina Faso and Mali, battling the similar extremist insurgency, are additionally ruled by juntas but have equally struggled to address the problem.

The three have removed France's and United States military personnel that were earlier significantly involved in the fight against jihadists that are active in the Sahel.

Along with scaling back their relations with the international community, they have afterward formed an coalition to combat the extremist danger, turning to Russia and Turkey for their safety needs. Yet, the conflict has persisted.