At least 10 Niger Soldiers Killed in Attack in the South, Officials say

About 10 soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in an attack in Niger’s Dosso region this week, authorities said in a statement broadcast on state radio. According to Reuters, a security sources said the death toll could be higher.

The statement attributed Monday’s ambush in southern Niger to “terrorists” and said several of the assailants had been killed and others arrested.

Niger is battling an insurgency by jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, alongside its Sahel neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso.

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According to security source, 18 people are missing and 3 security vehicles stolen. The government ordered a ban on the use of motorcycles in the affected communities, according to a directive seen by Reuters.

Last month, an incident in Niger along the border with Mali and Burkina Faso resulted in the deaths of 12 soldiers and the kidnapping of 5 Indian residents. In March, police implicated the EIGS group, an Islamic State branch, for an attack on a mosque near the tri-border area, killing at least 44 civilians.

Colonel Major Bana Alassane, the governor of southern Niger’s Dosso region, visited the area the day after the attack to express condolences to the soldiers’ families, according to a government statement.