Takfiri terrorists kill 14 troops in ambush in western Niger

Fourteen troops were killed when “heavily-armed terrorists” ambushed a convoy in the western Niger region of Tillaberi, the interior ministry said Thursday.

“After a fierce battle... seven police and seven national guards were killed” Wednesday, it said in a statement.

“A guard has been listed as missing,” the ministry said, adding, “the enemy suffered many losses.” It did not give details.

The security forces had been escorting a team to carry out voter registration in the district of Sanam ahead of presidential and legislative elections due in late 2020, it added.

The team was “secured and returned to Sanam safe and sound," the statement said.

Niger, a poor, landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, is on the front line of a Takfiri insurgency.

Its troops are fighting Boko Haram militants on the southeast border with Nigeria and Takfiris allied with the Daesh terrorist group in the west near Mali.

SS