Hommam Al Nassim 
One person was killed, and another was seriously injured, while five local officials were kidnapped during an armed attack targeting a government delegation in the remote Bilma region of Niger, near the border with Libya.
The Nigerian Ministry of Interior announced that the attack occurred the day before yesterday, Friday, through an armed ambush launched by heavily armed bandits.
The ministry explained that the delegation, which included the governor of Bilma, was returning from a mission in Dirkou when it was ambushed 17 kilometers north of the city of Bilma.
The attackers used two vehicles and weapons in the attack, which led to the death of one member of the delegation and the serious injury of another. They were also able to kidnap five attendees, including, according to media and local sources, the governor of Belma, Amadou Torda.
The Ministry did not disclose the identity of the kidnappers, nor did any group claim responsibility for the attack.
However, the Defense and Security Forces were able to seize one of the two attackers’ vehicles, in an attempt to restore order and ensure the safety of citizens in this vast desert area, which is located within the Agadez region and extends to the borders of Libya and Algeria.
The Agadez region in northern Niger is considered an unstable region suffering from the activity of armed groups, and there are “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” and the “Islamic State group” in the Greater Sahara.
Agadez is also considered a major center for drug, weapons and human trafficking, and kidnapping of foreigners by armed groups is a widespread phenomenon in that region.
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