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Seven Troops, 11 'Terrorists' Killed in Niger ahead of Vote
[AnNahar] Seven troops and 11 suspected jihadists have died in festivities in a troubled western region of Niger ahead of elections this weekend, the defence ministry said Thursday.An army patrol in the Taroun area in the Tillaberi region was ambushed early Monday morning by "heavily armed terrorists" travelling aboard cycle of violence  s and other vehicles, it said in a statement, using a term that typically denotes jihadists.The country, the poorest in the world by the benchmark of the UN's Human Development Index, is to stage presidential and legislative elections on Sunday. The statement said seven troops died and two others and a civilian were maimed, while 11 attackers were killed, seven of them after the army launched a "spontaneous riposte". "Motorbikes and weapons were seized. Followup operations are under way in the area," it said. Tillaberi is located in the so-called tri-border area, a jihadist-plagued zone where the mostly non-existent borders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... converge. Travel by motorbike has been banned there since January in a bid to prevent incursions by highly mobile jihadists riding on two wheels. Niger is eyeing Sunday's two-round ballot as a historic moment, setting the country on course for its first peaceful handover between elected leaders since independence from La Belle France 60 years ago. President Mahamadou Issoufou, who was elected in 2011 after the country's last coup in 2010, is voluntarily stepping down after two terms. A landlocked state located in the heart of the Sahel, Niger is being hammered in the southwest by jihadists from neighbouring Mali and in the southeast by jihadists from Nigeria, the cradle of the decade-old insurgency launched by Boko Haram  ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...Four thousand people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger died last year from jihadist violence and ethnic bloodshed stirred by Islamists, according to the UN. On December 12, 34 villagers were massacred in the southeastern region of Diffa on the eve of municipal and regional elections that had been repeatedly delayed because of poor security. Related: Tillaberi region: 2020-02-09 At least 11 civilians were killed in two separate attacks in Niger Tillaberi region: 2020-01-14 89 solders killed in Niger Tillaberi region: 2019-12-12 Niger military camp attack leaves 'at least 60 dead' : Security source Related: Niger: 2020-12-24 Cameroon Governor: Boko Haram Has Infiltrated Top Levels of Government Niger: 2020-12-22 France Opens Door to Talks with Some African Jihadists Niger: 2020-12-22 'Some of us were killed,' kidnapped Katsina student says in video released by Boko Haram Posted by: trailing wife 2020-12-25 |
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