Twenty-nine soldiers were killed in an attack in western Niger, the deadliest since the military seized power in late July in the country torn by jihadist violence, the defense ministry said overnight.

“A detachment of security forces was targeted in a complex attack northwest of Tabatol, using improvised explosive devices and kamikaze vehicles, by about a hundred terrorists,” according to a ministry statement read on state television.

“The provisional account of this attack is as follows: in the friendly ranks, 29 soldiers fell heroically, two were seriously wounded,” the text continues, while assuring that “dozens” of terrorists were also killed.

The attack took place near the border with Mali, during operations to “neutralize the threat posed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISIS)”, which is infesting the region.

This toll is the heaviest to be announced since the military seized power, who justified the July 26 coup by citing mainly the worsening security situation.

Last Thursday, seven soldiers were killed in an attack, also in the western part of the country, while five others died in a road accident as part of the reaction.

In mid-August, at least 17 Nigerian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in an attack attributed to jihadists in the Niger-Burkina Faso border region.

The so-called “international border” region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali is infested by Sahelian jihadists who are close to either Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.

Intercepted “communications of terrorists”, who were “forced to retreat”, allowed the conclusion to be drawn that “these criminals benefit from expertise from abroad”, the statement released today by the Ministry of Defense of Niger states, without further clarification.