Troops killed In Niger Border Clash With 'Bandits'

Ten troops have been killed on Niger's border with Nigeria in a joint operation by the two countries against "bandits", Nigerien Defence Minister Kalla Moutari said on Monday.

"Five Nigerien and five Nigerian" troops and 11 enemy fighters were killed in the operation, launched against gangs in the Maradi region at the weekend, he told AFP.



Niger is one of several countries in the impoverished Sahel region to be hit by jihadist violence.

Officials often call Islamist attackers "bandits" but a security source said the joint operation targeted criminal gangs that plague the Niger-Nigeria border, holing up in dense forests.

The fighting "began on Saturday in the middle of the morning," the source said, adding that several troops from both countries were also wounded.