NIAMEY: Niger’s military government announced Saturday that civilian victims have been discovered following air attacks by Niger’s military against “terrorists” near the border with Burkina Faso.
In a statement, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) said that the military had initially “energetically repelled a terrorist assault” by a group who arrived on about twenty motorbikes, on Friday evening. The assault targeted a military post in Tyawa, in Tillaberi region near Burkina Faso.
Air attacks were then conducted against “a second column” of attackers on motorbikes and other vehicles, the CNSP said. It added that a military patrol discovered civilian casualties at the site of the attack.
Niger Military Government Admits ‘Civilian Victims’ Following Air Strike
The military regime said arrangements had been made “to provide help to the injured”, who have been evacuated to the hospital nearby.
Like neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has also faced persistent violence, especially in the so-called Tri-border region on the borders of these three Sahel nations.
The officials said that the militant groups that have been active for years in this vast region of Tillaberi are “in disarray and seeking refuge”, after operations by the military, but that they were still planning assaults against military positions in the region.
READ ALSO: Gaza Death Toll Surpasses 22,600: Ministry
In late December, eleven villagers were killed in a double assault near the Burkina Faso border. In October, 29 personnel were killed in an assault, also in the west, the heaviest death toll since the July military coup that toppled the government of elected president Mohamed Bazoum.
