23 soldiers killed in attack
A MILITANT attack on Nigerien forces in a border region near Mali and Burkina Faso killed 23 soldiers, the defence ministry said Friday.
The soldiers were taking part in an overnight clearing operation on Tuesday in the country’s west when they were ambushed by armed men on motorcycles equipped with home-made bombs, the ministry statement said, according to state television. Details of the attack were previously unreported.
The statement by Defense Minister General Salifou Mody blamed the attack on jihadi fighters, saying the army had killed about 30 attackers in response. The violence highlighted the troubles facing Niger and its neighbours.
Niger, along with neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, is battling jihadi groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in a decade-long conflict in the Sahel region that is worsening. The violence killed thousands of people last year and civilian killings routinely go unpunished. More than two million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations. The Associated Press on Friday reported on rare first-hand details of a mass killing at a village in Burkina Faso.
Until recently, Niger was a critical element of US military operations in the Sahel, where Washington has sought to help local governments beat back militant groups. Some 650 US troops and hundreds of support staff work at a recently built airbase in Agadez, about 920 kilometres (550 miles) from Niamey. But, last week, Niger’s ruling junta said it no longer recognised the US presence there, casting doubt on the future of US military operations in the Sahel. The US has said the ruling junta has not formally asked them to leave, and it is weighing its options.
The junta in Niamey seized control in July when soldiers – including some trained by the US – ousted the country’s democratically elected president. France completed the withdrawal of its forces from Niger in December after being asked to leave.
Mali and Burkina Faso are also led by juntas and have experienced two coups each since 2020. Fed up with the continued violence, both juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russian mercenaries instead.