Niamey: Three US Army Special Forces soldiers were killed and two were wounded in an ambush in Niger on Wednesday while on a routine patrol, a US official said.
US military command in Africa (AFRICOM) said that a patrol consisting of US soldiers and others from Niger came under fire in southwestern Niger, pointing out that the attack occurred about 200 km north of the capital Niamey near the border with Mali where al-Qaeda is active.
Nigerians officials said that a number of Nigerien were killed near the border with Mali in an armed ambush.
Namatta Abubacar, an official for the region of Tillaberi in Niger, said five Nigerien soldiers were among the dead.
The US Africa Command has hundreds of soldiers deployed across the region, including at an air facility in Agadez, and offer training and support to Niger's army in aspects such as intelligence gathering and surveillance.
