UPDATE: 29 NIGER SOLDIERS KILLED BY SUSPECTED JIHADISTS - DEFENCE MINISTRY

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Agency Report

The military ministry said on Monday night that 29 troops had been murdered in an attack in western Niger by suspected jihadists, and three days of national mourning had been established.

More than 100 terrorists, according to the government, used “improvised explosive devices and kamikaze vehicles” to target the military.

“Several dozen terrorists” were also slain, along with two soldiers who were critically injured.

According to the ministry, the attack occurred amid military operations intended to “neutralise the threat posed by the Islamic State” in the region, close to the nation’s border with Mali.

“Communications from the terrorists, who were forced to withdraw, have been intercepted”, the ministry said, adding that the attackers “benefitted from outside expertise”, without giving any further details.

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.

Al-Qaeda and Islamic State terrorists frequently launch operations in the “three borders” region between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

In all three nations, the unrest has fueled military coups, with Niger becoming the most recent victim on July 26 when Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s democratically elected president, was overthrown.

At least 17 Nigerien troops were killed and 20 others were injured in an alleged jihadist attack in August along the Niger-Burkina Faso border.

AFP