A police officer and four civilians were killed in a suspected terrorist attack in southwestern Niger, the army said Saturday, in an area where thousands fled their homes this month to escape jihadi violence.
An army statement said the attack took place on Friday afternoon, targeting "a group of paramilitary police escorting a convoy" along a road near the border with Burkina Faso.
The statement said five people had been killed and 19 injured, including seven officers, five soldiers, and seven civilians, who were all taken to the capital, Niamey.
"On the side of the enemy, two terrorists were killed," the statement said.
The attack took place in the southwestern Tillaberi region, in the border area where Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali meet — a hotbed of activity for insurgents linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
The vast arid area, roughly the size of South Korea, has about 150,000 internally displaced people, according to the United Nations.
On Wednesday, the U.N. and local authorities said nearly 11,000 had fled their homes this month alone.
One of the poorest countries in the world, Niger is also struggling with jihadi violence that has spilled into its southeast from northeastern Nigeria.
