Nine jihadists killed after attack of French aid workers in Niger

Nigerian forces killed nine people, allegedly members of the jihadist command that murdered six French aid workers and two Nigerians in the southwestern town of Kouré on Sunday.

A security source told Efe today that these alleged jihadists were killed on Monday during military operations carried out by the Nigerian army in coordination with French forces from Operation Barkhane.

The same source explained that the tracking operations were extended to the border with Mali "to prevent any possibility of withdrawal" of the alleged jihadists.

"As it is a totally militarized region and placed under a state of emergency, it has been difficult for these people to move around on motorcycles without being intercepted by Barkhane's force planes," the source said.

The same source added that the ground tracking carried out by Nigerian forces supported by the French allowed the movement of these alleged jihadists towards northern Mali to be halted. "Operations to intercept other alleged members of this command are continuing," it added.

The six French aid workers and a Nigerian citizen, members of the NGO Acted, accompanied by a local tourist guide, were all killed by a terrorist command last Sunday.

The victims were travelling that day from Niamey to a nature reserve in the Kouré region, some 50 kilometres from the capital in the southwest of the country, to observe the last giraffes at liberty in that part of Africa.

The search and arrest operations led on Sunday to the arrest of the alleged head of the command that perpetrated the attack, who is currently at the disposal of the anti-terrorist cell in Niamey.