Niamey – Washington is offering a $5 million reward for information on a 2017 jihadist attack in Niger that killed four soldiers from the United States, a US diplomatic source told AFP on Friday.
On October 4, 2017, nine soldiers – four Americans and five Nigeriens – were killed in an ambush by jihadists near Tongo Tongo, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border with Mali.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) group.
The reward is aimed “at obtaining information that will allow those responsible for the Tongo Tongo ambush to be brought to justice”, said a statement from the US embassy in Niamey issued on the fifth anniversary of the attack.
Posters are to be put up around Niamey and in the western region of Tillaberi where the ambush took place.
The U.S. is offering a $5 million reward for information on a 2017 militant attack in #Niger that killed four soldiers from the United States, a U.S. diplomatic source told AFP on Friday. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State. pic.twitter.com/Jw7D5rZn1l
— CGTN Africa (@cgtnafrica) October 8, 2022
The posters are illustrated with images of eight members of the EIGS, three of whom – including chief Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi – are marked with a red cross and the words “enemy killed in action”.
In September 2021, Paris announced the death of Sahrawi, who was killed “mid-August” in a strike by French forces in Mali.
“Three of the terrorists involved in the Tongo Tongo attack have already been arrested and tried,” a US embassy source told AFP, without specifying their identities or where their trial was held.
Niamey and Washington had alleged local “complicity” with the “terrorists” who travelled on about 10 vehicles and about 20 motorbikes to Tongo Tongo, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Niamey, according to the Niger army.
After the attack, the head of the village of Tongo Tongo was arrested for “complicity” with the attackers, according to a Niger security source.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pexels
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