Twenty-three Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush in western Niger during an offensive near the border with Burkina Faso, the defense ministry said.
The soldiers were involved in clearing operations near Burkina Faso’s Mai region on Tuesday and Wednesday and were killed during a “complex ambush”, the agency said, adding that “about 30 terrorists were neutralized”.
Niger – a landlocked country of 25 million people in one of the most unstable parts of the world – recently announced it was cutting military cooperation with the United States.
For more than a decade, Niger has been one of America’s most reliable allies in the Sahel. The Sahel region, which stretches across Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, is one of the largest poorly managed areas in the world.
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Terrorism, banditry, trafficking in human beings, arms, drugs, cattle rustling, and armed robbery thrived in the region. In September 2023, Niger’s military government adjusted the uranium price paid by France.
According to a report published in The Spectacle, Niger – a major player in the global uranium market – has taken a bold decision to raise the price of uranium from €0.80/kg to €200/kg.
According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), Niger is the world’s seventh-largest producer of uranium, and Niger was the second-largest supplier of natural uranium to the European Union in 2022.
The decision is expected to boost Niger’s economy and the global uranium market. France, historically the primary buyer of uranium in Niger, purchased uranium from Niger for €0.80 per kilogram. Ironically, on the other hand, France bought similar uranium from Canada for €200/kg.
