At least 18 gendarmes from the security forces of Niger lost their lives this Friday in an attack carried out by armed individuals in the town of Tessa, located in the southwest of the country, according to unofficial sources from the Nigerien authorities.
According to the media ActuNiger, a large group of armed attackers stormed positions of the defense and security forces in the rural commune of Tessa, in the Dosso region, where 18 gendarmes have died and at least three have survived. This area is located near the border with Nigeria and Benin.
The assailants, who were traveling on motorcycles and greatly outnumbered the deployed forces, managed to surround and loot the gendarmes' camp. In addition to the fatalities, significant material damage has been recorded in the facilities.
Niger is immersed in a serious security crisis, facing in the west the terrorist threat from the Al Qaeda branch in Mali, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), and from the Islamic State in the Sahel, while in the Diffa region, bathed by Lake Chad, it combats Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA).