Niger: at least 6 soldiers and 10 "terrorists" killed in the west

Six Nigerien soldiers and ten "terrorists" were killed Sunday in fighting in the west of the country, said a statement from the High Command of the National Guard read on television.

Six soldiers, including the head of the mission, were killed and another was injured, according to the "provisional assessment" of the High Command.

Nigerien soldiers who were in five vehicles "engaged in pursuit" against suspected jihadists, when they were ambushed around 10 a.m. GMT about twenty kilometers from the town of Sanam, in the west of the country. country, the statement said.

According to the same source, the ambush was set "by terrorists" who were driving "a dozen motorcycles". "Ten terrorists" were killed during a "mopping operation" carried out by "air and ground reinforcements", the statement said, and four of the attackers' motorcycles were "destroyed".

The locality of Sanam is located in the region of Tillabéri, in the so-called "three borders" zone located between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, the scene of numerous jihadist attacks.

On August 9, five national guard soldiers were killed and four wounded in an attack on their position in Bourkou Bourkou, near the mining town of Samira, also in the "three borders" zone, the regime announced. in power since the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

The head of the new regime, General Abdourahamane Tiani, justified the coup by "the security deterioration" in the country, undermined by the violence of jihadist groups.