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09 January 2020 Islamic militants killed 25 soldiers and injured six others in an attack on a position in the West Niger army near the border with Mali. Government sources say so.The fighting took place in Chinagodrar, about 209 km north of the capital Niamey and 63 attackers were reportedly killed in the action. The attack coincides with a campaign by Islamic groups linked to al Qaeda and Isis, in an attempt to force the Niger army to retreat from the western border with Mali, where government control has almost disappeared due to the action of the jihadists.
Attacks by Islamic militants have increased four times in Niger this year and have killed about 400 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, an independent organization. Last month 71 soldiers were killed in another military outpost about 150 km west of Chinagodrar.
The sub-Saharan Sahel strip has been in crisis since 2012, since Tuareg and jihadist rebels took control of two thirds of northern Mali, forcing France to intervene to repel them. Since then, however, the jihadists have regrouped and expanded their area of influence.