Fifteen Nigerien soldiers were killed on Saturday and six others are "missing" after a "terrorist" attack in the department of Torodi (south-west) near Burkina Faso, the Niger Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday (August 1st).
The ministry explained that the security forces who were on a supply mission were first caught in an "ambush by armed terrorist groups" before the soldiers trying to evacuate the wounded fell "on an improvised explosive device. ".
The total toll of this attack which occurred Saturday around 10 am GMT is of "15 soldiers died, 7 wounded, 6 missing", specifies the press release.
"A wide sweep of the area" by ground forces "supported by military aviation" was engaged in "to get hold of the terrorists", the text continues.
Attacks on civilians are on the rise
The department of Torodi is located in the southwest of the Tillabéri region which is in the so-called "three borders" area between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
This area is the scene of frequent attacks by Sahelian jihadist groups including the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS) and the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, affiliated with Al-Qaeda).
Attacks by suspected jihadists are increasingly targeting civilians in the Tillabéri region, a vast arid and landlocked space.
Thirty-three villagers were killed in two separate attacks, last Sunday and Wednesday, further north, near the Malian border.
A contingent of 1,200 soldiers from the Chadian army, reputed to be the most seasoned in the region, was deployed in the three border zone, as part of the multinational anti-jihadist force of the "G5 Sahel" grouping together five countries (Mauritania, Mali , Burkina, Niger, Chad).
With AFP
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