At least 12 Nigerien soldiers have died in a suspected extremist ambush near the northern town of Kandadji, as forces loyal to the new military junta, which took over in a coup on July 26, continue to battle extremists.
Their convoy came under attack by hundreds of militants, according to Gen Salifou Mody, Niger's defence minister. Seven wounded soldiers were taken to military hospitals, he said.
Gen Mody claimed that 100 militants died in return fire.
Militants linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS have terrorised remote areas in the Sahel for some time, putting security forces off balance in Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad.
While mostly arid, the vast strip of terrain between the Sahara and central Africa is dotted with forests and shrubland, as well as remote villages where militants can hide out between living off the land.
Government security forces in the region have also been accused of human rights abuses during their counter-terrorism operations.
Numerous international operations, involving French, US and British forces in the region, co-operating with militaries in the Sahel area, have also failed to stem terrorist activity. Those forces have now been largely expelled from Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, all of which since 2021 have experienced military takeovers by pro-Russia juntas.
But insecurity in the Sahel has risen sharply during the period.
During the month after the Niger junta seized power, violence primarily linked to the extremists soared by more than 40 per cent, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Attacks against civilians quadrupled in August compared with the month before, and attacks against security forces surged in the Tillaberi region, killing at least 40 soldiers, the project reported.
Niger was considered one of the last democratic countries in the region that western nations could partner with to beat back the terrorist insurgency in the Sahel.
