14 dead in Niger after Islamic extremists attack convoy

NIAMEY, Niger — Islamic extremists on bikes killed 14 security force individuals who had been escortingelectionofficers within the West African nation of Niger, the first substantial attack there since 71 soldiers had been killed in a large ambush earlier this month, authorities stated Thursday.

The attack took location Wednesday night attain Sanam, which is ready 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the capital of Niamey, in step with a govt statement. Officers from the nationwide electoral price had been within the situation to habits a census earlier than next Twelve months’s vote.

The victims had been seven protection force police officers and seven nationwide guard people, the statement stated.

Niger has lengthy been weak to Islamic extremism because it shares a border with Nigeria, the putBoko Haraminsurgents had been finishing up assaults for a decade.

However now Niger is more and more threatened by extremists from the Islamic Recount within the Larger Sahara neighborhood, which completed a 2017 attack that left four U.S. carrier people unnecessary in Niger. These identical extremists who’re active alongside the Niger-Mali border also claimed the unprecedented massacre on the navy camp earlier this month that left 71 unnecessary.

Niger’s protection force has undergone training for years from both American and French forces, however the Dec. 10 attack attain town of Inates underscored the menace extremists calm pose. French President Emmanuel Macron has postponed a assembly with Niger’s president and other regional leaders till January.

Niger will likely be a member of the G5 Sahel regional protection force force — alongside with Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania — which has unsuccessfully tried to pressure jihadis out of the astronomical self-discipline south of the Sahara barren self-discipline. The putrid-border joint force was once launched in July 2017, however has been beset by financial shortfalls and other challenges.

The disaster across the Sahel has deepened within the route of the last Twelve months, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso. Jihadi assaults on protection force outposts grew to turn into so frequent that Mali’s president shut down doubtlessly the most some distance-off and weak as fragment of a protection force reorganization.

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Related Press creator Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this document.