Niger regime admits 'civilian victims' after air assault

Civilian victims have been discovered after air strikes by Niger's army against "terrorists" near the border with Burkina Faso, Niger's military regime announced Saturday.

The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) said in a press release that the army had initially "energetically repelled a terrorist attack" by a group who arrived on around twenty motorbikes, on Friday evening.

The attack targeted a military post in Tyawa, in the western Tillaberi region near Burkina Faso.

Air strikes were then carried out against "a second column" of armed attackers on motorbikes and other vehicles, the CNSP said in its statement broadcast on public television.

On Saturday, "during a sweep of the area, a military patrol discovered civilian casualties at the scene of the strike", it added, without giving figures.

The regime said arrangements had been made "to provide assistance to the injured", who have been evacuated to the health centre in a nearby town.

Like neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger has faced persistent jihadist violence, particularly in the so-called Tri-border area on the borders of these three Sahel countries.

Niger has since July been governed by a military regime following a coup.

On December 17, coup leader military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani said the country was "progressively normalising" the security situation, crediting  "multiple successes" by the army in quelling unrest.

The authorities said that the jihadist groups that have been active for several years in this vast region of Tillaberi are "in disarray and seeking refuge", following operations by the army, but that they were still planning attacks against army positions in the area.

In late December, 11 villagers were killed in a double attack near the Burkina Faso border.

In October, 29 soldiers were killed in an attack, also in the west, the heaviest death toll since the July coup that toppled the elected president Mohamed Bazoum.