NIAMEY (Reuters) - At least 22 soldiers were killed in Niger on Thursday when unknown assailants attacked a camp for Malian refugees, the West African nation’s Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said.

The attack targeted a camp in the village of Tassalit in Niger’s Tahoua region, around 525 km (326 miles) northeast of the capital Niamey.

“We received information of an attack on the camp in Tassalit. For the moment we are told there are 22 dead, but that is not a total death toll,” he said in comments broadcast on state-run television TeleSahel. “The death toll could increase.”

Rafini gave no further information concerning the suspected identities of the attackers or whether any civilians had been killed or wounded.

The camp’s residents are Malians who fled to neighbouring Niger after Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda, seized Mali’s desert north in 2012. A French-led military intervention drove back the insurgents a year later but violence is on the rise across the region’s arid Sahel band.

Niger’s small army is currently battling Boko Haram militants who launch raids across its southern border from Nigeria while seeking to prevent an overflow of attacks from Mali.

There are also concerns that Islamic State fighters could be pushed onto its territory by a government offensive in Libya. </s> NIAMEY, Niger — Niger's government says attackers who killed at least 22 soldiers at a Malian refugee camp likely came from Mali.

The government said Friday it is investigating the attack a day earlier that wounded at least five at a security post for the Tazalit camp, in the Tahoua region of Niger near the border with Mali.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Niger to reinforce security at refugee camps and other vulnerable targets. He also called on authorities to bring perpetrators to justice.

Northern and central Mali remain unstable nearly four years after France led a military intervention to drive out Islamic extremists.

Niger's government has declared Saturday a national day of mourning. The nation is also battling against Nigeria-based Boko Haram extremists in its south. </s> AT least 20 soldiers have been killed in Niger in an attack on a camp for Malian refugees, officials say.

The attack took place in the western Tahoua region, Prime Minister Brigi Rafini told state TV.

Assailants targeted a military post near the camp, a local official told the Associated Press.

Northern and central Mali remain unstable nearly four years after France led a military intervention to drive out jihadists, BBC reported.

Three soldiers were also injured in the attack, the local official said, and Prime Minister Rafini said the death toll could rise.

Last month, two refugees were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a security post near Niger’s Tabarey-barey camp, which also houses Malian refugees.

Niger’s military is currently battling Boko Haram militants launching raids across the country’s southern border from Nigeria as well as attempting to prevent violence spilling over from Mali to the west. </s> Unidentified gunmen have killed 16 soldiers in an attack on a military camp in western Niger, local residents and security sources said on Tuesday.

The raid occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Inates, close to the border with Mali, where Islamist militants are active, and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State's West African branch killed 28 soldiers in May.

Niger hosts the African Union summit from July 6-9 less than 200 km (125 miles) away in the capital Niamey. In the run-up, the European Union has been training Nigerien forces to respond to militant attacks.

Zakari Insa, the brother of one of the soldiers killed in Monday's attack, and Souley Marou, a local villager, both said 16 soldiers had died.

Two security sources confirmed the death toll, and one of them said about a dozen vehicles had been stolen. Jihadists have previously launched attacks using vehicles stolen in previous raids.

An army spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. </s> Niger troops patrol near Diffa on June 16, 2016 following attacks by Boko Haram fighters in the region. By Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File)

Niamey (AFP) - Twenty-two soldiers were killed in an attack probably carried out by jihadists, on a camp in Niger sheltering Malian refugees, a security official told AFP on Friday.

"Some 30 to 40 heavily armed men speaking in Tuareg carried out the attack (on Thursday), killing 22 soldiers," the official said. The UN refugee agency confirmed the death toll. </s> NIAMEY — Unidentified gunmen have killed 16 soldiers in an attack on a military camp in western Niger, local residents and security sources said on Tuesday.

The raid occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Inates, close to the border with Mali, where Islamist militants are active, and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State’s West African branch killed 28 soldiers in May.

Niger hosts the African Union summit from July 6-9 less than 200 km (125 miles) away in the capital Niamey. In the run-up, the European Union has been training Nigerien forces to respond to militant attacks.

Zakari Insa, the brother of one of the soldiers killed in Monday’s attack, and Souley Marou, a local villager, both said 16 soldiers had died.

Two security sources confirmed the death toll, and one of them said about a dozen vehicles had been stolen. Jihadists have previously launched attacks using vehicles stolen in previous raids.

An army spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Security has deteriorated in recent months across West Africa’s Sahel region, a semi-arid strip of land south of the Sahara. France and the United States have deployed thousands of troops to the region to counter jihadist groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda.

The attacks have also helped to stoke ethnic violence between rival farming and herding communities, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Militants loyal to Adnan Abu Waleed al-Sahrawi, the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, operate along Mali’s border with Burkina Faso and Niger.

In 2017, they killed four members of U.S. special forces and four Nigerien soldiers in an ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo. </s> Unidentified gunmen attacked a military camp in northern Mali early Saturday, killing 14 Malian soldiers and injuring 17, according to local authorities. Army officers cited by Reuters said the post in Soumpi, near Timbuktu, was attacked around 6am local time, and two of the attackers were killed. </s> Niamey/Nairobi — At least 18 soldiers in western Niger were killed and four others were missing after suspected Islamist militants blew up two cars and fired on a military camp, the army said on Tuesday.

The raid occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Inates, close to the border with Mali, where militants are active, and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State's (IS's) West African sect killed 28 soldiers in May.

Niger hosts the African Union summit from July 6-9 less than 200km away in the capital, Niamey. In the run-up, the EU has been training Nigerien forces to respond to militant attacks.

An army statement said the attack began with the explosion of the two car bombs before additional assailants opened fire from motorcyles. The army's "partners" then responded with air strikes to force them across the border into Mali.

Former colonial power France has more than 4,000 troops in West Africa's Sahel region, a semi-arid strip of land south of the Sahara, and often carries out air strikes on militants linked to IS and Al-Qaeda.

A security source said that about a dozen vehicles were stolen in the raid. Jihadists have previously launched attacks using vehicles stolen in earlier raids.

Security has deteriorated across the Sahel in recent months due to both jihadist attacks and deadly ethnic reprisals involving rival farming and herding communities, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Militants loyal to Adnan Abu Waleed al-Sahrawi, the leader of IS in the Greater Sahara, operate along Mali's border with Burkina Faso and Niger.

In 2017, they killed four members of US special forces and four Nigerien soldiers in an ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo. </s> NIAMEY, Niger — Niger’s defense ministry says 17 soldiers have been killed and 11 are missing after an ambush by jihadists.

The attack took place on Tuesday not far from the volatile border with Mali where Islamic extremists are known to operate.

A ministry statement says the soldiers came under attack by heavily armed assailants with explosives.

The attack took place about 45 kilometers (27 miles) from where an ambush in October 2017 killed four American soldiers and four soldiers from Niger. Their convoy was attacked by more than 100 extremists while searching for a high-level Islamic State group leader.

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Unknown assailants attack a refugee camp near the village of Tassalit, in Niger's Tahoua Region, killing at least 22 soldiers.