Attack near Mali claims lives of 17 Niger soldiers — Ministry

Tuesday’s suspected jihadist strike along the nation’s western border with Mali claimed the lives of seventeen Niger soldiers, according to the military ministry.

According to a ministry announcement posted online late Tuesday, an army detachment was “the victim of a terrorist ambush in the town of Koutougou.”

Additional 20 troops had been hurt, six of them critically, and all of the casualties had been sent to Niamey, the country’s capital.

The army claimed that more than 100 attackers were “neutralised” during their retreat.

The Sahel region of Africa has seen 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.
Attacks by insurgents linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda frequently take place in the region known as the “three borders” between the three nations.

Numerous soldiers, police officials, and civilians have lost their lives in the region’s upheaval, which has also compelled millions of people to leave their homes.

Since 2020, all three of these nations have seen military coups, with Niger seeing the most recent one on July 26 with the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum. The anger at the slaughter has been the driving force behind these coups.

In addition, terrorists from northeastern Nigeria, the origin of the Boko Haram campaign that began in 2010, are invading Niger’s southeast and waging a jihadist insurgency.