As Niger battles threats from ECOWAS, it also is facing internal crisis, as terrorists do not fear the military junta.
Suspected armed Islamists killed 12 troops in Republic of Niger’s rural southwest on Tuesday, according to state television.
It is the latest incident since army officers seized power last month.
An anti-jihadist operation by national guards was “the target of an ambush” Sunday evening in the Tillaberi region’s Anzourou, according to Tele Sahel.
It went on to say that the forces’ “response… resulted in heavy losses inflicted on the enemy.”
According to the report, the troops were buried in a ceremony attended by the province’s military governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Maina Boucar.
ECOWAS Threatens To Use Force
According to authorities, at least 17 troops were killed on August 15 near the village of Koutougou, also in Tillaberi.
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Twenty more soldiers were injured, and they claim that more than 100 assailants were “neutralised” while fleeing on motorcycles.
ECOWAS, the West African regional organisation, has threatened to use force to free Niger’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who was detained by guards on July 26.
The African Union said Tuesday that it has suspended Niger until civilian government was restored and that any armed action would be evaluated.
The new authorities of Niger justified their coup by citing a perceived deterioration in security under Bazoum.
For more than a decade, rebels have terrorised West Africa’s Sahel region.
The acts of terror first erupted in northern Mali in 2012 before extending to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.
However, according to an independent monitor, attacks in Niger decreased in the first six months of this year.
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, attacks on civilians decreased by 49% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same time in 2022, while the number of deaths decreased by 16%.
