(Niamey) Twenty-nine soldiers were killed during an attack in western Niger, the deadliest since the military took power at the end of July in this country undermined by jihadist violence, announced on Monday night to Tuesday the Ministry of Defense.
“A detachment of security forces was the subject of a complex attack northwest of Tabatol, combining the use of improvised explosive devices and kamikaze vehicles by more than a hundred terrorists,” a statement said read on national television.
“The provisional assessment of this attack is as follows: on the friendly side, 29 soldiers fell as heroes, two were seriously injured,” continues the text which specifies that “several dozen terrorists” were killed.
The attack took place near the Mali border, during operations aimed at “neutralizing the threat posed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), which is strongly established in the area”.
This is the heaviest death toll since the military came to power, who justified their July 26 coup in particular by the deterioration of the security situation.
On Thursday, seven soldiers were killed, still in the west of the country and five others in a traffic accident in response to this attack.
In mid-August, at least 17 Nigerien soldiers were killed and 20 injured in an attack by suspected jihadists perpetrated near the border between Niger and Burkina Faso.
The so-called “three borders” zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. It is a hideout for Sahelian jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and EIGS.
“Communications from terrorists, forced to withdraw, were intercepted and made it possible to establish that these criminals benefited from external expertise,” denounces Tuesday’s press release, without further details.