The government has reported that a recent confrontation in southeastern Niger resulted in 10 soldiers sustaining injuries, with numerous jihadist fighters killed.
On Tuesday, militants from the Boko Haram group launched an attack on a special intervention battalion stationed at N’Guigmi airport, located in the Diffa region near the Nigerian border, according to Niger’s defense ministry.
The skirmish, commencing at approximately 01:50 am (0050 GMT), endured for about 20 minutes before the assailants were forced back toward the banks of Lake Chad, as stated in the ministry’s late Tuesday release.
With aerial support, the attackers were identified boarding pirogue canoes on the lake, the statement added.
“Surgical” air strikes neutralized several dozen “terrorists,” the release indicated.
Lake Chad, an extensive area of water and marshland spanning Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad, has witnessed frequent attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
This clash represents the most severe reported encounter between the military and jihadists following a period of relative calm in the region, which has been a target for jihadist attacks since 2015.
In June, seven soldiers lost their lives when their vehicle struck a landmine in the Diffa region.
The area is also home to numerous internally displaced people and Nigerian refugees reliant on humanitarian organizations and the local population. These groups are grappling with food shortages due to drought-affected harvests, as per regional authorities.
Niger, governed by military leaders since a July 26 coup, stands as one of the world’s poorest nations. Additionally, it faces a deadly jihadist insurgency in the west near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso.
