11 terrorists killed, 6 arrested – Nigerien military

Niger’s military on Tuesday (Jan. 24) mentioned it had killed 11 “terrorists” and captured six final week in a restive area tormented by insurgents linked with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Operations within the western Tillaberi area close to Burkina Faso additionally noticed weapons seized and greater than 130 bikes destroyed, Niger’s defence ministry mentioned in its weekly bulletin.

Tillaberi is within the huge and unstable “three borders” area between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the place jihadist insurgents have carried out assaults for years.

The West African nation has launched offensive operations towards jihadists within the space, not too long ago with the backing of 250 troopers from former colonial energy France.

The anti-jihadist pressure Niya, which has been deployed in western Niger since February final yr and has greater than 2,000 personnel, suffered two accidents within the operations, the military mentioned.

The military added that it had dismantled a fuel-trafficking community suspected of supplying the armed teams.

Niger is dealing with jihadist insurgencies on its western border with Mali and Burkina Faso and on its southeastern frontier with Nigeria.

The Sahel state is dwelling to tens of hundreds of internally displaced individuals, in addition to refugees from Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Nearly 10,000 individuals from Niger villages situated close to Burkina Faso had been pressured to maneuver to the city of Tera in November and December final yr, in response to the United Nations.