Twenty soldiers and one civilian were killed on Tuesday June 25 in western Niger during an attack perpetrated by a “coalition of armed terrorist groups”announced the Ministry of Defense in a press release read on national television, Télé Sahel.
“Tuesday June 25 around 10 a.m. (11 a.m. in Paris), a detachment of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) in area control was the subject of an attack by a coalition of armed terrorist groups on the outskirts of the village by Tassia »In “the Téra zone”reports the ministry.
National mourning
He reports “21 martyrs including one civilian”, “nine injured treated at Gothèye hospital” and of “two vehicles damaged”. “Several dozen terrorists” were killed, he also continues and “air and ground reinforcements are currently deployed to search and destroy the rest of the attackers”.
“A three-day national mourning will be observed from tomorrow Wednesday June 26 throughout the national territory, the flags will be flown at half-mast”, did he declare. The ministry ensured “unwavering determination of the FDS to continue this fight for sovereignty”.
The department of Téra is located in the region of Tillabéri, part of the so-called zone of “three borders”between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which has become a hideout for Sahelian jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.