2023-10-04 00:58:18
Terrorist attacks have increased in recent days in Niger, in the north of the regions of Tillabery and Tahoua, both bordering Mali, including two ambushes which were carried out once morest Nigerien forces on Monday October 2. The provisional toll put forward Monday evening by the Niamey authorities showed 29 dead, but since then, Nigerien security and civilian sources contacted by RFI have reported a much heavier toll: 60 dead, not counting soldiers still missing.
Published on: 04/10/2023 – 02:58
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The majority of soldiers and national guards were buried on Tuesday October 3 at midday in Tillia, a prefecture located west of Tahoua, in the heart of Niger’s Azawak.
These soldiers, all from the special forces, fell Monday in an ambush tense by armed men from the terrorist group Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS), which roams the entire western area from Tillia to Ménaka, in Mali. The presence of this Sahelian branch of the terrorist group has been considerably strengthened in the three-border area (Niger-Mali-Burkina Faso) since the withdrawal of the French Barkhane force.
The killed soldiers came to the aid of the national guards caught in a first ambush, not far from Takanamat.
Monday evening, the junta announced the figure of 29 deaths and declared a three-day national mourning. Niger’s current Defense Minister, General Salifou Modi, was present in Tillia for the burial of the fallen soldiers, during which witnesses reported that at least 60 bodies were buried.
In 2019, the military positions of Chinagodar and Inates were decimated by EIGS terrorists, who left more than 130 dead in one month.
It is in this same area of Tillia that the Nigerien junta had positioned Burkinabè soldiers who came to lend a hand to their brothers in arms. It is unknown whether Burkinabè soldiers are among the victims of these ambushes.
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