By RFIPalled on 13-12-2019Modified on 13-12-2019 at 14:37
A three-day national mourning began this Friday in Niger. And this morning, the bodies of the 71 soldiers killed in the attack on the Inates garrison arrived in Niamey. President Mahamadou Issoufou paid tribute to them.
It is a touching ceremony that broke down this Friday morning on the tarmac of the national squadron of Niamey. The 71 bodies , draped in national colors, green, white, orange, have been carefully aligned by firefighters. In the first rank of the corps, that of the commander of the garrison of Inates and his deputies, all dead with arms in hand.
For this exceptional circumstance of lifting the bodies, President Issoufou paid tribute to them. " Under your orders, commander Alhassane Anoutab, your men fought like lions. And President Issoufou continues: " I have come here to express the situation of great revolt which animates me in the face of an enemy who attacks in a treacherous manner. " My commander you and your men will never feel the shame that the cowards feel ," added President Issoufou.
Posthumous decorations
In front of their brothers in arms, their relatives, friends and acquaintances, the great imam of the mosque of Niamey said a Fatiha, a prayer to the dead, for the eternal rest of the souls of the valiant soldiers. Also present were all Western military partners and diplomats.
Before their burial in the square of the martyrs, in the enclosure of the national squadron, the president Issoufou, supreme chief of the armies, decorated the commander Anoutab and raised him to the higher rank of lieutenant-colonel. He awarded him a Valor Cross with a posthumous palm. As for the other 70 soldiers, they were all elevated and decorated.
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