Niger is mourning the death of at least 28 soldiers killed in an ambush on Tuesday.
The attack was carried out by the Islamic State targeted at a convoy of the Niger army in Tongo Tongo.
IS said in a statement that the attack killed or wounded 40 soldiers near the Mali border.
The troops were patrolling the area when the militants opened fire on the soldiers.
But the Nigerien Army said the death toll has reached 28. Tuesday’s ambush occurred in an area where four US troops were killed in October 2017.
In the 2017 incident a joint patrol of Niger troops and US special forces came under attack by militants.
This is the deadliest attack recorded in western Niger, where militants have come under attack from government troops and their international allies.
For years there have been heavy deployments of French, US and UN forces in the Niger region to fight off these militants.
Niger, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon are all facing series of threats from Militants including Boko Haram which is based in Nigeria.
Jihadist threats in West Africa
There are already warnings from security experts in West Africa about potential threats from Jihadists in countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Benin.
These countries are on alert following threats from Jihadists operating in neighboring Burkina Faso.
The Africa Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (ACSIS) issued a security alert of an imminent attack from the Salafi-Jihadist group in Burkina Faso on Ghana and Togo.
According a release by the ACSIS, the Salafist-Jihadist group members “are also planning to attack churches in countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, and Benin.”
The organization said the alert is to raise the needed awareness for appropriate measures from governments of the mentioned countries.
Source: Africafeeds.com
