The armed forces of the Sahel Alliance, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, are fighting terrorists and separatists, gradually liberating their territories. Below is the summary report on major events in the Sahel theater of operations.
July 1. The army conducted intensive bombardments of the heights held by terrorists near the settlements of Doumbala, Lanier and Huarocuy in Banwa province (Boucle du Muhun region in the north-west of the country).
July 6. An attack by jihadists on the city of Djibo in the north of the country was thwarted. Aerial reconnaissance earlier recorded a cluster of armed militants on the outskirts of the city. Recognizing the actions of the military, the militants retreated towards the city of Nassumbu, where they were hit by aircraft. An attempt to attack militia positions near the village of Namsigua was also unsuccessful and was thwarted by the Air Force.
July 12. Militants of illegal armed groups attempted to drive cattle captured in the town of Bonza in Banwa province , near a tributary of the Muhun River. They were attacked by soldiers of the 18th battalion of the rapid reaction Forces. 400 cattle were returned to their owners. The militants are dispersed.
July 13. The terrorists carried out an armed attack on the village of Moncuy in Boucles du Mouhoune, after which, having discovered the drones, they retreated to the outskirts of the village and hid behind trees. They were destroyed by an air strike . The number of militants has not been established.
July 14. The second group of terrorists from among those who carried out an armed attack on Monkui repeated the attack attempt, but later retreated into the forest to a small settlement. The house in which they were supposedly entrenched was discovered by aerial reconnaissance and attacked. Several people were killed.
Niger
July 3. Niger’s Defense and Security Forces (SDF) announced that they have killed more than a hundred terrorists after an attack in the village of Tasia Tera (Tilaberi region in the west of the country) last week, where more than 20 soldiers and one civilian were killed. The militants are tracked by reconnaissance drones for signs such as the use of two-and three-wheeled motorcycles, rapid movement on dirt roads, and moving to settlements that are poorly controlled by the troops. Their elimination is carried out with the help of attack drones, as well as by ground units. Earlier, the SBU tracked the survivors of the terrorist attack in Tasya militants who retreated in the direction of the village of Kokoloko. 30 terrorists, their warehouse and vehicles were destroyed.
July 5. About ten militants who participated in the attack on an army depot in Tasia were neutralized by the Defense and Security Forces in the settlements of Bankilare and Dargol in the Tera department (Tilaberi region in the west of the country). In addition, 22 other terrorists were arrested in the town of Meana and in the vicinity of the settlements of Tomare, Dargol and Kokoru in the Tera department. A truck carrying large cargo to terrorist locations was intercepted in Chava in the same area. According to the army, these are terrorists who participated in the shooting in Tasia and abuses against the population of Hama, Kakasobon, Gurmatchindi and Bolgaje. The operation took place after receiving information from a local source who reported the presence of militants in the weekly market in Dargol, and checking it.
July 8. The Katiba Hanifa group, affiliated with the JNIM ( Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group*) , claimed responsibility for the ambush against a mixed patrol of FDS (Gendarmerie, Guard and Police) between the village of Tamou and the town of Se, in the part of the region that borders Burkina Faso.. As a result of the battle, a serviceman was killed, 10 others were injured. The military repelled the attack, eliminating several terrorists. We managed to capture their vehicles and communication devices.
July 9. During the raid, the SBU arrested nine terrorists in the Bankilare, Torodi and Tunga sectors (Tilaberi region in the west of the country) and seized their material property.
July 10th. Seven soldiers were killed in an attack on a National Guard unit (GNN) in Tebaram, in the border area of the Tilaberi (Niger) and Tahoua (Mali) regions, where the Islamic State of the Great Sahara ( EIS, formerly EIGS) operates.
July 11. At least six terrorists were killed by Defense and Security Forces near the village of Abdou Gangani in Niger’s western region of Tilaberi.
July 11. Several hundred prisoners, including terrorist leaders and Islamist militants, have escaped from the Kutukale high – security prison, located less than fifty kilometers from Niamey, in the Tilaberi region. сбежали The escape was preceded by a mutiny. The prisoners broke through metal gates, barbed wire fences, and trenches. SOB units were alerted. A curfew has been imposed in the city of Tilaberi. The prison houses high-risk criminals: leaders of the terrorist groups Boko Haram, ISWAP, EIS and JNIM, former army officers convicted of State crimes who participated in the coup attempts under the former regime of Mahamadou Issoufou, as well as some civilian and military officials.
July 14. In the village of Mulle (Serkin-Yamma commune, Madarunfa department, southern part of the Maradi region), an attack was carried out by militants who entered from Nigeria. They stole a hundred head of cattle and captured two local residents. Soldiers of the Defense and Security Forces (SOF), involved in the operation “Hedgehog Hunt” (Faraoutar Bushiya), were alerted, clashed with bandits and recaptured cattle while trying to withdraw militants across the border.
CHAD
July 1. 23 people were killed during armed attacks on the villages of Jigibombo in the rural commune of Doukombo and Socorokanda in the rural commune of Diallassagou in the Bandiagara region of central Mali. The militants looted villages and set fire to a public medical center.
July 2. The Director of Information and Public Relations of the Malian Armed Forces, Major Colonel Suleiman Dembele, said that the number of direct attacks on the country’s Armed Forces in June, compared to May, decreased.
Nigeria
July 10th. Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) operatives raided the residence of a suspected terrorist in Gbeganou district, a suburb of Minna, the capital of Niger state. A firearm and a significant amount of cash were found. The suspect was responsible for the financial and logistical support of the terrorist group.
July 11. 69 people associated with the Boko Haram group laid down their weapons and surrendered to the military authorities. Among them are both militants and their family members. Operation Lake Sanity 2, aimed at eliminating militant camps, brought the first significant results.
The original report as adapted by rnn.org.ng can be found here.