NIAMEY A joint operation by Nigerien and French troops in southwest Niger killed 120 “terrorists” and seized bomb-making equipment and vehicles, the country’s defence ministry said. As of February 20, “120 terrorists have been neutralized” in the operation in the vast Tillaberi region near the border with Mali and Burkina Faso, the statement said, adding there had been no losses among Nigerien or French troops. Niger’s defence minister Issoufou Katambe praised the “cooperation… in the battle against terrorism,” according to the statement.
