Des soldats russes ont aidé à repousser une attaque contre l'aéroport du Niger, dit Moscou
Russian soldiers helped repel an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group against Niger's main airport last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Monday.
The head of the Nigerien junta, General Abdourahamane Tiani, on Thursday congratulated "the Russian partners who professionally defended their security sector" at the Niamey airport site in the face of this rare attack against the capital, which left twenty dead among the assailants and four wounded among the Nigerien soldiers, according to the authorities.
"The assault was repelled thanks to the joint efforts of the African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Nigerien armed forces," the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.
"Moscow strongly condemns this latest extremist attack," he added.
The Nigerien junta accused Benin, France and Ivory Coast of having ordered the attack on the airport, which notably houses a military base.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the operation on Friday and later released a video montage of the attack via its propaganda agency, Amaq.
The video shows several dozen men firing Kalashnikovs near a hangar and setting fire to an aircraft, before leaving on motorcycles on the tarmac, near civilian aircraft.
Russia rarely comments on its military activities in the Sahel, where it has strengthened its influence following a series of anti-Western coups.
Faced with the West's desire to isolate it because of the war in Ukraine, it has sought to forge new partnerships in Africa, where it has extended its political, economic and military influence in recent years.
Outside of Niger, Russian soldiers or military instructors have reportedly been deployed to Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and Libya.
The African Corps, a unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense, took over from the Wagner paramilitary group on the continent.
According to Moscow, it contributes to the "fight against terrorism" and to the "strengthening of regional stability" in the Sahel.
Nigerien authorities have been fighting the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), linked to Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State in the Sahel (ISS) in western and southeastern Niger for a decade.
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