Niger announces that it has "neutralized" 120 terrorists in the Tillabéri region

Nigerien soldiers stand guard in Niamey, December 22, 2019. Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

One hundred and twenty "terrorists" were "neutralized" during a joint military operation launched on February 1 by elements of the Nigerien armed forces and the French force Barkhane in southwestern Niger, the ministry announced on Friday, February 21. Defense Nigerien.

Publicity

Read more

The operation took place in the north of the Tillabéri region, located in southwestern Niger and bordering Mali, the ministry said in a statement. “ The balance sheet as of February 20, 2020 is as follows: on the friends' side, no loss is to be deplored, on the enemy side, 120 neutralized terrorists including 23 in the triangle Inatès, Tongo Tongo, Tilowa. Ten motorcycles and various equipment used for the production of improvised explosive devices and for observation seized and destroyed ”, according to the text, read on public radio.

The Nigerian Minister of Defense, Issoufou Katambé, welcomed " cooperation with the strategic partner in the fight against terrorism alongside the Nigerian armed forces ". " This joint operation is in line with the recommendations from the Pau summit on January 13, 2020 ".

The Tillabéri region is a vast unstable area of ​​almost 100,000 km2, bordering the three border area (Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali). It is in this space that French President Emmanuel Macron and his G5 Sahel counterparts - Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad - decided on January 13, 2020 in Pau, to coordinate more and focus their military action by targeting in priority the EIGS (Islamic State in the Grand Sahara).

In addition to the state of emergency in force for two years, the Nigerien authorities took new security measures at the beginning of January, such as a motorbike ban or the closing of markets, in an attempt to stem jihadist attacks in Tillabéri. Some 174 soldiers were killed there in December and January in three attacks including that of Chinégodar (89 dead on January 8), Inates (71 dead, December 10, 2019).

(with AFP)

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

subscribe

Download the app

google-play-badge_FR

  • Niger
  • Terrorism

On the same subject

Benin authorizes cross-border transhumance for Niger herders

Niger launches into biometric electoral maps

Niger: 20 dead in a stampede in front of a distribution center in Diffa