Turkey condemns deadly terror attack in Niger

By Burak Dag

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Tuesday condemned a deadly terror attack in southeastern Niger that left four soldiers dead and eight injured.

"We are deeply saddened by the news that four soldiers lost their lives and eight soldiers were injured in a terrorist attack carried out in Diffa region near the Tchad border of Niger on 18 January 2021," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We deeply condemn this heinous attack," it added.

It also extended condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, as well as to the "friendly and brotherly" people and government of Niger, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

In a written statement, Niger's Defense Ministry said Monday that members of the Boko Haram terrorist organization detonated an explosive device planted in the Diffa region as a military vehicle was passing.

Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a military response.

More than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade of Boko Haram's terrorist activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.