The Niger Army “neutralizes” 79 suspected terrorists near the border with Mali

March 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Niger Defense Ministry has confirmed that it has “neutralized” 79 suspected terrorists in an operation against armed groups in the area near the Mali border where 17 Nigerien soldiers were reportedly killed in February.

In a statement published this Friday, the Ministry has confirmed an operation in the Tiloa area, in the province of Banibangou, near the border with Mali and, according to the statement, “place of refuge for those responsible for the ambush on 10 February”.

In February, an attack on a patrol in that same province left 17 soldiers dead, twelve missing, and another twelve wounded.

In this operation, which has not reported casualties among the Nigerien military, more than a hundred motorcycles have also been destroyed and numerous communication equipment have been destroyed.

The country faces a terrorist threat in the west from al Qaeda’s branch in Mali, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), and Islamic State in the Sahel –formerly Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. (ISGS)–.

Likewise, the Diffa region, bathed by Lake Chad, is the scene of relatively frequent attacks by Boko Haram and its splinter, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA).