Twenty soldiers and a civilian were killed and nine others wounded in an armed attack in western Niger, the country’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.
A coalition of armed terrorist groups attacked security forces near the town of Tassia, killing 21 people, including a civilian, and wounding nine others,’ the ministry said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Dozens of assailants were killed in the attack, the statement said. Air and ground reinforcements have been deployed to hunt down the fugitives.
Tassia is in the Tillaberi region, which borders Mali and Burkina Faso.