Niger junta says a dozen soldiers killed in militant attack

At least a dozen Niger soldiers were killed following an attack by hundreds of armed insurgents on motorbikes in the country’s southwest on Thursday morning, the West African nation’s defence ministry said in a statement.
Seven soldiers were killed in combat while five others died in an accident while driving to reinforce the unit that had come under attack, the statement said.
The attack took place about 190 km (118 miles) from the capital Niamey in Kandadji, near the tri-border zone of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that has been the epicenter of Islamist insurgencies in the Sahel region in the last few years.
Earlier on Thursday, three sources including a senior military officer, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters that at least ten soldiers were killed.
Neither the sources nor the defence ministry say which group was responsible. Local affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State are active in the region and wage frequent attacks on soldiers and civilians.