By RFIPublished on 11-12-2019Modified on 11-12-2019 at 20:24
This attack is the deadliest ever recorded in this border area with Mali: at least 70 soldiers and 57 attackers have lost their lives, according to military sources consulted by RFI.
The military post of Inates was attacked Tuesday, December 10, in the evening, by several columns of vehicles, including armored vehicles and motorcycles. Inates is located 250 km from Niamey and the attackers are jihadists from northern Mali.
The army was attacked on three sides and the fighting was unusually violent. Witness the death, arms in hand, of the chief of the garrison and his deputy, in the midst of their men. The arrival of military reinforcements made it possible to repel the attackers. There is currently no official record, but concordant sources speak of 70 soldiers and 57 terrorists killed.
No claim
This is the second time this post has been attacked. Last July, 18 Nigerian soldiers were killed in an assault by the men of Abu Walid al-Sahrawi.
The attack of December 10 has not yet been claimed, but in Niger, the eyes are turned, given the scale of the means used, to the group of Iyad Ag Ghali, the consortium of Aqmi, Ansar Dine and al-Murabitoun. It could also have had the reinforcement of the combatants of Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, given the number of motorcycles used.
Inates occupies a strategic position for the Nigerien army. This post is located less than 5 km from the Malian border and not far from the Ansongo Wildlife Reserve, home to many terrorists from northern Mali. This town is also not far from two Malian towns that serve as a crossroads for drug traffickers and terrorists, the villages of Akabar and Tabankort. And the Nigerian military presence embarrasses these traffickers in their routes to the Algerian border.
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