UPDATE 1-At least 17 Niger soldiers killed in ambush - gov't spokesman
The attack on Tuesday occurred near the town of Tongo Tongo, where fighters from an Islamic State affiliate killed four U.S. special forces and four Nigerien soldiers in an ambush in October 2017, spokesman Abdourahamane Zakaria told Reuters. Zakaria did not identify the perpetrators of the attack, which is one of the deadliest against the military in Niger's west in recent years.
Jihadists, including affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State, have stepped up attacks on military and civilian targets across West Africa's Sahel region this year, particularly along the porous borders between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Niger also faces a threat in its southeast from Boko Haram and a splinter group affiliated with Islamic State, which are both based in Nigeria but frequently strike in neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. (Reporting By Moussa Aksar; Writing by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Aaron Ross and Toby Chopra)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Border Terrier
- Border Collie
- Border States Industries- Inc.
- Aspergillus niger
- Niger Delta
- Niger River
- Town council
- Town and gown
- Cape Town
- We Were Soldiers
- The Horse Soldiers
- Toy Soldiers
- The Lone Gunmen
- The Gunman
- Daniel Radcliffe
- Tickets For Troops
- World War I
- Vietnam War
- Islamic terrorism
- Islamic state