Fifteen civilians were killed and many others wounded earlier this week in attacks by “terrorists” on villages in the Tilaberi prefecture of western Niger, near Burkina Faso, the armed forces said on Wednesday night.

“In the Meana area, terrorist elements committed heinous acts of violence against defenseless civilians, the toll is heavy and tragic: 14 people lost their lives and many others were injured,” the Nigerian armed forces said, without specifying the date the attacks were launched. in their latest business newsletter from Sunday to yesterday Wednesday.

Reacting, soldiers in Meana “neutralized two terrorists”, “burned the motorcycle of the attackers” and “recovered stolen animals”, according to the same source.

The attacks targeted six communities in Tillaberi prefecture, in the “international border” sector of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which is a hideout for Sahelian jihadist organizations that pledge allegiance to either the Islamic State or al-Qaeda.

Meana is located in the province of Tera, where battles between Niger’s armed forces and jihadists have been breaking out more often lately, in the context of an operation that the staff named “Niya”.

Civilians in the region are regularly targeted by jihadists, which has caused large population displacements.

The day before Tuesday, also in Tillaberi province, “a civilian was killed” and “three others were injured” during a battle between a reconnaissance unit of the armed forces and “terrorists” near Satuman community, according to the army.

Security forces “reacted effectively”, killing “terrorists”, he assured, without giving a specific number.

Apart from the jihadist attacks in Tillaberi county, Niger, where the military has been ruling since the coup they carried out a year and a half ago on July 26, 2023, remains confronted in its south-eastern part by the violence of other jihadist groups, Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISIS), which are based in Nigeria.

According to US-based non-governmental organization ACLED, which tracks casualty figures in the armed conflict, some 1,500 civilians and soldiers have been killed in jihadist attacks since the July 2023 coup. About 650 had been killed since July 2022 when the military seized power. .