NIAMEY (Niger): Twenty soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack in west Niger’s Tillabery region on Tuesday, the Nigerien Ministry of Defence said, reported Xinhua.
At around 10 am local time, a detachment of the Defence and Security Forces was attacked by a coalition of armed terrorist groups on the outskirts of the village of Tassia, resulting in 21 deaths, including 20 soldiers and a civilian, the ministry said in a press release.
Nine soldiers were injured, and two army vehicles were damaged in the attack, the release stated.
Several dozen terrorists were neutralised, and means of travel and communication were destroyed, the ministry noted, adding that air and ground reinforcements were deployed to search for and destroy the rest of the attackers.
The village of Tassia is located in the “three borders” area (Niger-Mali-Burkina Faso), a new source of insecurity in the far southwest of the country, according to local media reports. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
