“
Heavily armed men
” attacked and set fire to a border post between Niger and Burkina Faso on Saturday, in Makalondi, without causing any casualties, local sources reported to AFP on Sunday.
“
The attack took place around 6:30 p.m. GMT on Saturday and was carried out by unidentified gunmen.
There was significant material damage: the premises of the police station and vehicles were set on fire
,” a local elected official told AFP.
The assailants "
had come in two vehicles and motorcycles
", underlined this elected official assuring that the attack "
did not cause any victims
".
Another local source told AFP that "
heavily armed terrorists
" carried out the attack on the police station.
The Nigerien government had not confirmed the attack on Sunday evening.
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The Makalondi police station had already been targeted in December 2021. Six people - a gendarme, two customs officers and three civilians - had been killed in a double attack by suspected jihadists against the station and another site in the city.
Makalondi is a commune located in the south-west of the Tillabéri region, in the so-called "
three borders
" zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, which has become a haven for Sahelian jihadists, including the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (EIGS).
For years, this area has been regularly targeted by attacks from Islamist groups, despite the massive deployment of national anti-jihadist forces and the state of emergency in force.
On February 10, at least seventeen soldiers were killed in an ambush by a "
group of terrorist armed men
" in the Banibangou area, in the northern area of Tillabéri, on the border with Mali. .
In its southeastern part, bordering Lake Chad and Nigeria, Niger must also face the jihadists of Boko Haram and its dissident branch Iswap (Islamic State in West Africa).