At least seventeen Nigerien troops were slain by suspected Jihadists in a new ambush near the Mali border.
In a statement issued late Tuesday night, the defence ministry confirmed this, stating that a military unit was “the victim of a terrorist ambush near the town of Koutougou.”
According to the ministry statement, the ambush left no fewer than 26 soldiers with various degrees of wounded.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, the most recent incident occurred two days after suspected terrorists shot and killed at least six Nigerien soldiers.
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The army claimed that more than 100 attackers were “neutralised” during their retreat.
The Sahel region of Africa has been tormented by a jihadist insurgency for more than ten years. It began in northern Mali in 2012 and moved to nearby Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.
Attacks by insurgents linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda frequently take place in the region known as the “three borders” between the three nations.
Thousands of soldiers, police officers, and civilians have been slain in the region’s instability, and millions of people have been forced to evacuate their homes.
Since 2020, military coups have taken place in all three nations as a result of anger over the bloodshed, with Niger becoming the most recent victim on July 26 when President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown.
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In addition, terrorists entering into Niger from northeastern Nigeria, the origin of a campaign started by Boko Haram in 2010, are waging a jihadist insurgency in the country’s southeast.
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