Eleven people were killed in weekend attacks by suspected jihadists on two villages near Niger's border with Burkina Faso, Niger's defense ministry said on Sunday.
"The terrorists on several motorcycles broke into the villages of Amara and Loudji," some 30 kilometers [19 miles] southeast of Bankilare, "where they attacked peaceful citizens, killing 11," a ministry statement said.
The killings came as Nigerien defense and security forces on Friday carried out "multiple air-land offensives," which the ministry said had "reduced to nothing" the militants' communication channels.
It added that one soldier was killed and five wounded Friday when their patrol vehicle drove over a mine at Ouro Gueladjo, 70 kilometers outside the capital Niamey.
Niger has since July been governed by a military regime following a coup.
On December 17, coup leader military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani said the country was "progressively normalizing" the security situation, crediting "multiple successes" by the army in quelling unrest.
Military and local sources say the past few weeks have seen relative calm in the region bordering Burkina Faso and Mali — likewise ruled by military leaders — which had previously been prone to repeated jihadist attack.
Six soldiers were killed in the zone in an October clash with jihadists near the border with Burkina Faso.
The same month saw 29 soldiers killed in an attack in western Niger in what was the deadliest attack since the coup.
