Niger: Six soldiers killed in terrorist attack

Six Nigerien soldiers have been killed during a “terrorist attack” against the City of Abala approximately 200 km north of Niamey, near the border with Mali, Nigerien military sources say.

Fighting is ongoing between the terrorists and the Nigerien forces” near Mali and military aircraft have been chasing the suspected terrorists.

Niger’s Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum and several officials attended the burial of some of those killed during a ceremony on Thursday.

The City of Abala, located in the Niger region of Tillabéry and which houses a camp of Malian refugees, is part of the area which was placed under a state of emergency in March by Niamey.

Between February and March, about twenty agents of the defense and security forces have been killed in two different attacks attributed to “terrorists” in the same region of Tillabéry.

In January, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso decided to create a tripartite force on their common border which according to them is becoming a “sanctuary of terrorist groups and criminals of all kinds”, but this force has not yet been put in place.