NIAMEY, Niger, March 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Thirteen Nigerien soldiers were killed in two separate clashes with jihadist groups, the army said Wednesday.

During the first incident, at a gold mining site in the western Tillaberi region, "nine soldiers fell in combat" with Islamic State affiliates, the army said in an operations bulletin.

The March 15 attack involved reinforcements arriving from across the Burkina Faso border on around 100 motorcycles, the army statement added.

The neighbouring countries cooperated on an air and ground operation to quell the attack, killing 55 jihadists, according to the Nigerien side. Seven Nigerien soldiers were also wounded.

Two days later, a military outpost on the other side of the Sahel country was attacked "by a group of around 300 fighters" identified as belonging to Boko Haram.

The attackers "deployed booby-trapped vehicles" and explosives, and killed four soldiers, according to the army.

Landlocked Niger is governed by a junta that seized power in a July 2023 coup, vowing to restore stability and secure revenues from mining and oil resources.

Yet unrest persists, with a surge in militant activities, democratic backsliding, restriction of civil liberties and severe socio-economic consequences due to sanctions, according to the international conflict monitor ACLED.

Together with junta-led allies Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger is setting up a joint 5,000-strong force to tackle their overlapping security challenges, including jihadist insurgency, organised criminal gangs and human trafficking networks.