NIAMEY, Niger: At least ten 10 soldiers have been wounded and several dozen jihadist fighters killed in a fighting in Niger’s southeast, the government said on Wednesday.
Niger’s defense ministry said Jihadists from the Boko Haram group have attacked a special intervention battalion stationed at the airport in N’Guigmi, a garrison town near the border with Nigeria.
The clash, started around 01:50 am (0050 GMT) and lasted about 20 minutes before the attackers were pushed towards the banks of Lake Chad, the ministry said in a statement.
It added that several dozen terrorists were neutralized through air strikes.
Lake Chad, located at the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad has been the site of frequent attacks from the jihadist fighters of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The recent clash is the worst reported between the army and jihadists after several months of peace in the region.
Seven soldiers were killed in June, after their car hit a landmine in the Diffa region.
The area also hosts thousands of internally displaced people and Nigerian refugees dependent on humanitarian organizations and the local population who is already facing food shortages due to harvests hit.
Since a July 26 coup, Niger has been led by military leaders. It is one of the poorest countries in the world.
It is also facing a deadly jihadist insurgency in the west part near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso.
