29 Soldiers Killed In Fresh Attack In Niger By Suspected Jihadists

No fewer than twenty-nine soldiers were killed in the western Niger Republic in an attack by suspected jihadists, the country’s Ministry of Defence announced in a statement on Monday, October 2, 2023.

The ministry has since declared a three-day national mourning period. It revealed in a televised statement that the soldiers were targeted using improvised explosive devices and kamikaze vehicles by more than a hundred terrorists.

Naija News understands that the latest attack occurred near the country’s border with Mali during military operations aimed at neutralising the threat posed by the Islamic State in the area.

According to the ministry, two soldiers were seriously wounded, and several dozen terrorists were also killed in the clash. It added that the attackers benefitted from outside expertise, as per the ministry, which intercepted communications from the terrorists who were forced to withdraw.

This news platform reports that a jihadist insurgency has plagued Africa’s Sahel region for over a decade, breaking out in northern Mali in 2012 before spreading to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

The three borders area between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso is regularly the scene of attacks by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda.

The violence has fuelled military takeovers in all three countries, with Niger being affected by a coup on July 26 as the junta ousted the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

Subsequently, on 30 August 2023, another coup d’état occurred in Gabon shortly after the announcement that incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba had won the general election held on 26 August.

Naija News reports that the coup brought an end to the 56-year-long rule of the Bongo family over Gabon.