Authorities in Niger confirmed that at least 10 soldiers were killed and seven injured in an ambush in the country’s Dosso region earlier this week. The attack, which occurred on Monday, was attributed to “terrorists,” according to a government statement broadcast on state radio. However, a security source told Reuters that the death toll could be higher.
The statement noted that several assailants were killed and others arrested during the attack. Niger, along with its Sahel neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, has been grappling with an ongoing insurgency by jihadist groups with links to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
The security source also reported that 18 soldiers remain missing following the assault, and three security vehicles were stolen. In response, the government imposed a ban on the use of motorcycles in the affected communities, as detailed in a directive seen by Reuters.
This attack follows a deadly assault last month in which 12 soldiers were killed and five Indian nationals were kidnapped near the volatile tri-border region shared by Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. In March, a similar attack claimed the lives of at least 44 civilians at a mosque near the same area, with authorities attributing the assault to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS), an affiliate of ISIS.
Colonel Major Bana Alassane, the governor of Dosso, visited the area a day after the attack to offer his condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers, as reported in the government statement.