At least 34 soldiers dead and 14 wounded as several hundred armed men, many on motorbikes, attacked a Niger army base near the border with Mali, the Defence Ministry said.
According to the statement read out on state Tv, the attackers, – described as “mercenaries” by the ministry – used eight vehicles and more than 200 motorbikes in the raid on the base in Bani-bangou on Thursday.
On Friday, Islamic States claimed responsibility for the attack on the army base in a statement on its Telegram channel.
Niger, like other countries in West Africa’s Sahel region, is battling Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
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Troops carried out aerial and ground search operations to secure the area after the attack, the ministry said without going into more detail on the assault.
