Terror attack in west Niger kills 20 soldiers

Twenty soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack in west Niger's Tillabery region on Tuesday, the Nigerien Ministry of Defense said, reported Xinhua.

At around 10 a.m. local time, a detachment of the Defense and Security Forces was attacked by a coalition of armed terrorist groups, on the outskirts of the village of Tassia, resulting in 21 deaths including 20 soldiers and a civilian, the ministry said in a press release.

Nine soldiers were injured and two army vehicles were damaged in the attack, the release said.

Several dozen terrorists were neutralized, and means of travel and communication destroyed, the ministry noted, adding that air and ground reinforcements were deployed to search for and destroy the rest of the attackers.

The village of Tassia is located in the "three borders" area (Niger-Mali-Burkina Faso), a new source of insecurity in the far southwest of the country, according to local media reports.