NIAMEY, Monday 27/2/2017, militants ambushed an army patrol on Thursday of last week and killed 15 Niger soldiers and wounding 19 others.
Confirming on the incident, Defense Ministry said the ambush happened in an area close to the border with Mali and a bastion of violent Islamists terrorists.
The ministry noted that the soldiers were ambush when a search operation was underway to neutralize the terrorists outside the town of Tiloa.
Militants and other allied criminal outfits have encroached and exploited the areas around the vast desert border between Mali and Niger to launch attacks.
In 2013, French-led military operations pushed the militants groups back from northern bastion of Mali.
There are less terror attacks in Niger as compared to Mali. However, militants in the past recent years have been expanding across borders in the fragile Sahel region into Niger and Burkina Faso.
