Gunmen launch attack on Niger-Benin oil pipeline, kill 6 soldiers
Story from Usman UMAR
Unidentified assailants have attacked the patrol team assigned with safeguarding a pipeline between the villages of Salkam and Tibiri in the southeastern Dosso region of Niger, killing six soldiers during the attack.
The approximately 2,000 km (1,243-mile) PetroChina sponsored pipeline was formally inaugurated in November, connecting Niger’s Agadem oilfield to the coast of Benin where the crude oil is loaded onto ships for export.
According to informants who pleaded for anonymity, the attack happened on Wednesday afternoon and no individual or group has taken credit for the murders.
READ ALSO: Soldiers kill bandit leader as terrorists attack military base, shoot 2 officers
The attack marks the first instance of security forces defending the pipeline being targeted.
It was gathered that extremist factions affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State have been active in the vicinity.
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