Jihadist attack near Mali border kills 29 Nigerien soldiers amidst growing security concerns

 

In Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 3, 2023, backers of Niger's current military leadership assembled at the onset of a demonstration aimed at defending the nation's sovereignty and resisting external intervention. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

As they battle to put an end to a wave of attacks, jihadis have reportedly killed at least 29 Nigerien soldiers close to the nation's border with Mali.

 

In a statement released late on Monday, Lt. Gen. Salifou Mody, the defense minister for the West African country of Niger, claimed that more than 100 extremists used improvised explosives to attack security personnel stationed at the border area as part of a clearance operation. This attack on Nigerien soldiers is the second of the past week.

 

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, extremist-related violence increased by more than 40% in the month following the military takeover of Niger. Jihadi attacks targeting civilians quadrupled in August compared with the month before, and attacks against security forces spiked in the Tillaberi region, killing at least 40 soldiers, the project reported.

 

"This attack unfortunately caused the loss of several of our valiant soldiers," Mody said Monday. "The provisional assessment of this attack is as follows: on the friendly side, 29 soldiers fell. … On the enemy side, several dozen terrorists were neutralized, fifteen motorcycles destroyed, a large quantity of weapons and ammunition seized."

 

The junta, which took over power after a July coup against Niger’s democratically elected government, declared a three-day national mourning period for the dead.

 

It rehashed assertions from the past that "destabilization operations" were being carried out by "certain foreign powers with the complicity of Nigerien traitors," but provided no more information or evidence to support these accusations.

 

The military-backed junta made the assurance that "all efforts will be made to guarantee the security of people and their property throughout the national territory" in response to mounting pressure following the coup against Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.

 

Years have been spent fighting a terrorist insurgency in Niger that has ties to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State. Since mutinous troops overthrew the junta in July, attacks have intensified, raising doubts about its ability to strengthen Niger's security.

 

Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries in Africa’s Sahel region that Western nations could partner with to beat back the jihadi insurgency in the vast expanse below the Sahara Desert. The United States, France and other European countries poured hundreds of millions of dollars into shoring up the Nigerien military.