by Nurat Uthman
Niger’s army said Thursday it had killed more than 100 “terrorists” during air and ground operations in response to a deadly attack against soldiers near the Burkina Faso border.
A coalition of armed groups killed 20 troops and one civilian in the region of Tera in jihadist-plagued western Niger on June 25, the army said.
“More than 100 terrorists have been killed since,” the army said in its latest bulletin, adding its operations were ongoing.
The army had said in its previous bulletin that it had killed around 30 “terrorists” in the region the day after the Tera attack and had “destroyed their means of war” in an air raid.
Tera lies in the Tillaberi region bordering Mali and Burkina Faso where rebels linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged a bloody insurgency for almost a decade.
Civilians are frequently targeted in the area by jihadists, prompting many people to flee their homes.
Freight trucks from Niger also pass through Tera, arriving every month from the Togolese port of Lome, via northern Burkina Faso.
