Unidentified attackers assaulted soldiers guarding a significant Niger-Benin oil pipeline on Wednesday, resulting in the death of six soldiers, as reported by three security sources to Reuters on Thursday.
The pipeline itself remained undamaged, according to one of the sources.
The incident took place between the villages of Salkam and Tibiri in Niger’s southeastern Dosso region on Wednesday afternoon. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which marks the first targeting of security forces protecting the pipeline. Jihadist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State are known to operate in the region.
All three sources confirmed the casualties of six soldiers.
The nearly 2,000 km (1,243-mile) PetroChina-backed pipeline, inaugurated in November, connects Niger’s Agadem oilfield to Benin’s coastline for the export of crude oil.