Ahmad 
The Nigerian Ministry of Defense announced that at least 15 soldiers were killed, and 16 others were injured during battles that broke out in the Tira region, southwest of the country, near the border with Burkina Faso.
The ministry said in a statement broadcast on state television: “A unit of the defense and security forces clashed on Monday during an operation with armed terrorist groups in the Bankilari-Tira axis on the outskirts of the village of Funikou in the Tillaberi region in the west of the country.”
The ministry added that “15 soldiers were killed according to a preliminary toll,” noting that “3 soldiers were missing and 16 were injured and were transferred to Tira Hospital.”
The statement stated that the Nigerian forces were able to kill 21 terrorists and destroy 8 motorcycles they were riding, and two Nigerian army vehicles were destroyed during the battles. The ministry confirmed that “the immediate arrival of reinforcements from Terra forced the enemy to withdraw towards the north.”
This attack comes one year after the military coup that overthrew the previous government and brought the current military regime to power on July 26, 2023. The military regime justified the coup by deteriorating the security situation in the country.
Despite the large military deployment and the promise to quadruple the army’s numbers by 2030, ISIS and Al-Qaeda attacks continue in the vast Tillaberi region, where ambushes and bloody clashes between the army and militants in recent weeks have resulted in the deaths of dozens on both sides.
On the other hand, civilians suffer from the consequences of these armed conflicts, but official reports are few, and it is difficult to obtain independent information about the humanitarian situation.
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