More than a Dozen Niger Soldiers Killed near Mali Border

By Staff, Agencies

Niger’s Defense Ministry announced that at least 17 Niger soldiers have been killed in an attack by armed groups near the border with Mali.

According to a statement released late on Tuesday, “a detachment of the Nigerien Armed Forces [FAN] moving between Boni and Torodi was the victim of a terrorist ambush near the town of Koutougou [52km southwest of Torodi]”.

It added that another 20 soldiers had been injured, with all of them evacuated to Niamey, the capital.

More than 100 assailants were “neutralized” during their retreat, the army said.

In the last decade, the border area where central Mali, northern Burkina Faso and western Niger converge has become the epicenter of violence by armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda.

Anger at the bloodshed has fueled military takeovers in all three countries since 2020, with Niger the latest to fall to a coup on July 26 when President Mohamed Bazoum was removed.

Southeast Niger is also the target of armed groups crossing from northeastern Nigeria – the cradle of a campaign initiated by Boko Haram in 2010.

The coup leaders had said Bazoum’s ouster was due to the insecurity in the country was “due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance”.