Niger says 17 of its soldiers killed in ambush near Burkina Faso border

Niger's defence ministry said that 17 of its soldiers had been killed in an ambush on Tuesday in a southwest region bordering Burkina Faso.

Attacks in Niger have been falling since 2021 but security remains a major problem, especially in the southwest near the border with neighbouring Mali.

On the Malian side, the departure of French troops last year left a security vacuum that groups linked to IS and Al Qaeda have expanded into.

A detachment of Niger's army was attacked in an ambush next to Torodi commune, the defence ministry said in a statement. It added that more than a hundred "terrorists" were neutralized.

"The swift reaction of the soldiers and the air-land response at the scene of the skirmish enabled the enemy to be dealt with," the statement said.