Seven soldiers were killed Thursday in western Niger during an attack by suspected jihadists, and five others died in a traffic accident during an intervention in response to the attack, the Minister of Defense announced. Defense in a press release.
Thursday, in the Tillabéri region (west), “a unit of Operation Almahaou on a security mission in Kandadji was violently attacked by several hundred terrorists,” wrote Minister and General Salifou Mody.
Seven soldiers died “in combat,” he added. “During the intervention” in response to this attack, “a tragic traffic accident resulted in the loss of five of our brave soldiers,” the statement said. According to the document, seven people were injured and evacuated to a hospital.
“Three borders” zone
The attackers’ motorcycles and weapons “were destroyed in the Tijiane area”, 20 km northeast of Ayorou, in the same region, the minister said. The minister affirms that “a search operation is underway to track down the enemy”.
The Tillabéri region is located in the so-called “three borders” zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, and is a hideout for Sahelian jihadists, notably those of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS).
The perpetrators of a coup d’état in Niger on July 26 justified their act by the “deterioration of the security situation”.