A fresh wave of violent protests erupted in Niger over Charlie Hebdo's depiction of the Prophet Muhammad Saturday.
In Niamey, Niger's capital, at least five people died during the protests against the French newspaper, according to Al Jazeera.
During the two days of violent protests across the West African country, a total of 11 people died as of now. Police said two charred bodies were discovered inside a burned church on the outskirts of the capital, and the body of a woman was found in a bar. They believe she suffocated from teargas and smoke.
Six churches were attacked Saturday, the BBC reported. The protests started outside Niamey's grand mosque and spread to other parts of the country over the two days. Police fired teargas at crowds of youth who were throwing stones, burning churches and looting shops, according to Al Jazeera.
Prior to the outburst of violence, authorities had banned a meeting called by local Islamic leaders. Protestors also attacked a police station and burned two police cars.
After an Islamist gunman killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo last week, the magazine published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping and holding a sign saying "I am Charlie." Seven million copies of the edition are being printed due to a high demand. Prior to the attack on the magazine, the magazine printed 60,000 copies.
Many Muslims see any depiction of Islam's prophet as offensive, according to Al Jazeera.
"They offended our Prophet Muhammad," protester Amadou Abdoul Ouahab said. "That's what we didn't like. That is the reason why we have asked Muslims to come, so that we can explain this to them, but the state refused. That's why we're angry today."
Thousands of Muslims demonstrated across the world Friday over the cartoon depiction. In Niger's second largest city, Zinder, a police officer and three civilians died during the protests.
