Niger

Some 6,000 U.S. troops are based on the continent. About a quarter are stationed in West Africa, mostly in Niger, where they provide training, drone support and intelligence.

Insurgents attacked a military base in Niger on Thursday, January 9, leading to clashes that killed at least 25 soldiers and 63 “terrorists,” the defense ministry said.

Militants have killed at least 73 soldiers in an attack on a military base in western Niger, the army says. … The attack came just days ahead of a summit in France between President Emmanuel Macron and leaders of five West African leaders to discuss security in the vast region.

A government spokesman in Niger says at least 17 Nigerien soldiers were killed and another 11 are missing after an ambush by unknown attackers Tuesday. The attack took place near the village of Tongo Tongo in western Niger. It is in the Tillaberi region where attackers killed four U.S. special forces troops and four Nigerien soldiers in 2017.

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) reports 163 refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, who were detained in horrific conditions in Libya, have been flown out of the battle-scarred country to safety in Niger.

Alhamdou Issalak has spent the last year counting the violent deaths in his community, one of those worst affected by the growing number of armed attacks in western Niger – part of a rising tide of militancy sweeping across the Sahel region from Mali to Burkina Faso.