At least ten military personnel were killed during an ambush by an “armed terrorist group” in the western part of Nigeron the border with Mali, as announced on Saturday by the Ministry of Defense in Niamey.
“On Friday February 10 late in the morning,” soldiers who were “patrolling a zone in the northern part of Banibagu County they fell into an elaborate ambush set up by armed terrorists“, he said in the press release issued by the ministry, using the terminology with which it generally refers to jihadist organizations.
The toll of the attack, perpetrated in the Indagame community, may become even heavier as the ministry spoke of “16 missing” and “13 injured” in the ranks of the army.
According to the statement, the return fire by the soldiers and the “immediate intervention” of the air force forced the attackers to retreat “to a neighboring country”, apparently Mali, a few kilometers from the location where the ambush had been set up.
The ministry does not specify how many of the attackers were killed, however it emphasizes that they took “corpses” with them as they retreated.
On Saturday night, French diplomacy “condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms.”
The French Foreign Ministry expressed its “solidarity with the authorities and the people of Niger”, stressing that it stands by their side “in the fight against terrorism”.
The French armed forces are providing support to an operation to restore security in the border area with Mali, they have deployed about 250 of their members.
Niger is also among the options being considered for the redeployment of French forces recently demanded to leave by the military junta in neighboring Burkina Faso.
Friday’s attack was carried out in the vast, volatile 100,000-square-kilometer (100,000-square-mile) Tilaberi region in the so-called “trilateral border” zone of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The first attacks against the military in the region were recorded in 2010, but escalated in 2017.
Authorities have launched several large-scale operations near the border with Mali as part of the anti-jihadist fight.
After a few months of calm, eleven civilians were killed in attacks in October.
Last Wednesday, nine people were killed in an attack by “heavily armed terrorists” on a Malian refugee camp in Tawa district.
In the same region, Tawa, 141 civilians were massacred on 21 March 2021 in attacks on villages attributed to jihadists.
In an earlier bulletin on January 24, the military described “the security situation as relatively stable,” stressing that its “continuation” of operations “keeps armed terrorist groups under firm pressure.”
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
