Tuesday’s ambush occurred in a region near the town of Tongo Tongo, where fighters from an Islamic State affiliate killed four US special forces and four Nigerien soldiers in an ambush in October 2017.
Four farmers killed in Boko Haram attack in Nigeria: witnesses
The spokesman did not say who was behind the attack, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Despite years of heavy deployments of French, US and UN forces, Africa’s Sahel region remains a tinderbox of fighters, ethnic militias and criminal smuggling rackets.
The border areas where Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali meet are especially dangerous and violence is worsening across the region. Gunmen killed at least 10 in apparently sectarian attacks on churches in neighbouring Burkina Faso this week.
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