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, July 2 (Reuters) - 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 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.

Former colonial power France has more 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 Islamic State 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 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> 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> At least 18 soldiers have been killed in western Niger in an attack by suspected Islamist militants on a military base.

The attack began with the detonation of two car bombs, officials said, before gunmen on motorbikes joined the raid.

Air strikes by US and French forces helped to drive the insurgents back, the government said.

Islamist militants are active in the region and killed 28 Nigerien soldiers in a similar raid in May.

Niger is due to host the African Union summit at the end of the week.

In a statement, the defence ministry said Monday's raid took place at Inates, near the border with Mali.

It said that as well as the 18 soldiers killed, four were missing. A lorry was destroyed by the air strikes and several "terrorists neutralised", the statement added.

Niger and other countries in the Sahel region of Africa have been facing a growing threat from militants including the Islamic State group and affiliates of al-Qaeda.

The groups are most active in Mali but often stage cross-border raids.

Niger is part of a five nation anti-insurgency force operating in the Sahel that includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania.

Despite deployments of French, US and UN forces, the region - including Niger - remains restive. </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> NIAMEY (Reuters) - Gunmen killed at least 17 Nigerien troops in an ambush near the Malian border, where several jihadist groups are active, and another 11 soldiers are missing, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The attack on Tuesday occurred near the town of Tongo Tongo, where fighters from an Islamic State affiliate killed four U.S. special forces and four Nigerien soldiers in an ambush in October 2017, spokesman Abdourahamane Zakaria told Reuters.

Zakaria did not identify the perpetrators of the attack, which is one of the deadliest against the military in Niger’s west in recent years.

Jihadists, including affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State, have stepped up attacks on military and civilian targets across West Africa’s Sahel region this year, particularly along the porous borders between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Niger also faces a threat in its southeast from Boko Haram and a splinter group affiliated with Islamic State, which are both based in Nigeria but frequently strike in neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. </s> Unidentified attackers have killed 16 soldiers in a car bomb attack on a military camp in western Niger near the border with Mali, local residents and security sources said on Tuesday.

The raid occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Inates in the same region where an ambush by the West African branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group killed 28 soldiers in May.

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

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

Niger hosts an African Union summit from July 6 to 9, less than 200km away in the capital Niamey.

In the run-up to the summit, the European Union has been training Nigerien forces to respond to armed attacks.

Security has deteriorated in recent months across West Africa's Sahel region, a semi-arid strip of land south of the Sahara.

Fighters loyal to Adnan Abu Waleed al-Sahrawi, the ISIL leader 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.

The volatile region around Inates is a major base where soldiers are trained to serve in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.

Various armed groups operate in Niger's west and north, while Nigeria's Boko Haram is present in the southeast.

The country is part of the so-called G5 Sahel group set up to manage a coordinated response to the armed group.

France and the United States have deployed thousands of troops to the region.

The US has a big base for drones in the northern city of Agadez and Niger recently gave Washington permission to arm their drones.

The French also have a military base near Niamey airport and another at Madama in the north. </s> Gunmen have attacked a Malian army base in a dawn raid, killing 11 soldiers and burning the camp in west-central Mali, the army and a local lawmaker say.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Central Mali has in the past few years been overrun by jihadists with links to al-Qaeda.

The unidentified armed assailants attacked the base in Guire district at 5am local time on Sunday after approaching in a convoy of 11 vehicles, local lawmaker Niame Keita said.

"They burnt the camp and took equipment," he said.

In a statement, the defence ministry confirmed the attack and said 11 soldiers were killed and more were wounded. Keita had earlier said 12 were reported killed.

In March, an al-Qaeda affiliate said it was behind a similar overnight attack on an army base in the central region of Mopti in which 16 soldiers were killed.

Escalating violence led to the resignation last week of the entire Malian government.

The authorities have come under fire for failing to beat back militants and disarm militias, after a massacre of 157 villagers by an ethnic vigilante group shocked the nation in March.

Both Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso have been hit by the spike in hostilities fuelled by Islamist militants seeking to extend their influence over the Sahel, an arid region between Africa's northern Sahara desert and its southern savannas. </s> Eighteen soldiers were killed when "terrorists" struck an army camp in western Niger, the government said Tuesday, adding the US and France had provided air support to help repel the assault.

The attack took place on Monday afternoon at a camp at Inates on the border with Mali, the defence ministry said in a statement. Four soldiers were listed as missing.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, lies in the heart of the fragile Sahel region, which is battling an Islamist insurgency.

"The attack began with the detonation of two suicide vehicles at the entrance to the camp, followed by gunfire from terrorists who arrived on motorbike," the statement said.

"The counter-attack, with air support from our partners (French and American), enabled the enemy to be routed beyond our borders," it said. "Sweeping-up operations are continuing." 



Several "terrorists" were killed, a truck was destroyed by air strikes and two suicide vehicles were destroyed, it said.

On Monday, a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP there had been a twin "car-bomb attack" at the camp and suggested the toll would be high.

The base, located in a volatile region, trains Nigerien soldiers to serve in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.

Insurgent groups are active in western and northern Mali, spilling over from a long-running jihadist campaign in Mali, while Nigeria's Boko Haram is present in the country's southeast.

Last month, the defence ministry said 18 members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) were killed in a joint operation by US, French and Niger troops in the southwestern border region of Tongo Tongo.

In October 2017, the ISGS claimed responsibility for a raid which killed four US soldiers and five Nigerien troops in the same region, a mere 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Malian border.

The United States has a big base for drones in the northern city of Agadez and Niger recently gave the Americans permission to arm their drones.

The French also have a military base near the airport at the capital Niamey and another at Madama in the north.

Niger is part of the so-called G5 Sahel group of five nations set up to manage a coordinated response to the jihadist insurgency in the impoverished region.

Niamey hosts a major meeting of the African Union from July 4-8, culminating in a summit expected to gather about 50 heads of state or government.
Islamist militants attack a Niger Armed Forces base in the village of Inates, near the border with Mali, with two car bombs and gunmen, killing 18 soldiers. They also kidnapped four Nigerien soldiers and stole dozens of vehicles.