BREAKING: Soldiers Killed In Ambush Near Niger (DETAILS)

BREAKING: Soldiers Killed In Ambush Near Niger (DETAILS)

Malian soldiers stand guard along the Niger River in Ségou, central

On Thursday, there was a jihadist ambush on an army convoy heading for Niger in the Ménaka region of Mali, resulting in the death of several Malian soldiers, as reported by a military official and a local elected official on Friday.

According to the military official, an initial assessment revealed that six soldiers were killed, and the search for others who are missing has been initiated. On the other hand, the terrorists suffered a loss of at least 15 fighters.

The local elected official stated that the overall toll, including dead, wounded, and missing soldiers, could be around twenty, but the situation is not yet clear.

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The area where the ambush occurred had deployments of both the Malian army and paramilitaries from the Russian security group Wagner. The junta in power in Mali considers these external reinforcements to be Russian instructors.

The jihadist ambush targeted an army convoy that was escorting trucks towards Niger, a neighboring country facing its own challenges with jihadists and a major crisis following a military coup.

Mali, which is also under junta rule since a coup in 2020, has expressed its support to the new Nigerien authorities and warned that any external military intervention would be considered a “declaration of war.”

A Nigerian junta representative emphasized the importance of cooperation between Mali and Niger in their fight against jihadists during a visit to Bamako on Wednesday.

Since 2012, Mali has been experiencing a deep security crisis spreading from the north to the center of the country and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Ménaka region in the northeast has witnessed a surge in activity by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) over the past few months. The jihadist group’s attacks have caused numerous deaths and forced thousands of people to flee the area, as highlighted in a recent report by Human Rights Watch.