According to the defense ministry of Niger, during operations this week that included an incursion into neighboring Mali, its troops killed 79 “terrorists.”

After being attacked on March 10 in the western village of Tiloa by a “armed terrorist group,” troops from the army’s anti-jihadist Almahaou operation started the search.

Additionally, it followed the deaths of at least 17 Nigerien soldiers in Intagamey, another town in the wide western region of Tillaberi, which is one of several regions that are currently under a state of emergency as a result of jihadist attacks, last month.

The ministry reported that the chase, conducted by air and ground personnel, ended in the Hamakat region of Mali, the alleged hiding place of the attacker of the February 10 attack.

The operation’s expansion into Mali, according to a security source reached by AFP, was “unprecedented.”

There were no military casualties during the operation, according to the ministry.

The strikes, according to the army, occurred in Tillaberi, which is shared by Mali and Burkina Faso, two nations that have experienced Islamist warfare.

Since 2017, armed factions affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State network have repeatedly attacked the region.

General Salifou Mody, the chief of staff of the Niger’s armed forces, was welcomed by Colonel Assimi Goita, the head of Mali’s junta, in Bamako at the beginning of March.

The more than 800-kilometer (500-mile) boundary between the two nations has been discussed, according to Niger.

AFP