Armed men on Monday launched a car bomb attack on a Nigerian army base in western Niger near the border with Mali, a military source said.

File: Nigerian Soldiers

Bandits on motorbikes carried out the assault with “two car bombs” near the town of Inates, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The volatile region is a major base where Nigerien soldiers are trained to serve in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.

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Earlier this month, 18 members of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara were killed in a joint operation by US, French and Niger troops in the same area.

Niger is one of a number of poor, fragile countries in the Sahel region that have been hit by a jihadist revolt.

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Various insurgent groups operate in its west and north, while Nigeria’s Boko Haram is present in the southeast.

The country is part of the so-called G5 Sahel group set up to manage a coordinated response to the jihadist insurgency.

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The United States has a big base for drones in the northern city of Agadez and Niger recently gave the Americans permission to arm their drones.

The French also have a military base near Niamey airport and another at Madama in the north.