Niger troops repel attack on prison holding ‘terrorists’

Armed forces in Niger repelled a pre-dawn attack Monday on a top security prison where “terrorists” are being held, the interior minister said.The attack, which took place around 4:00 am (0300 GMT), saw gunmen attacking a prison in Koutoukale, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of the capital Niamey, Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum said. But troops guarding the facility “repelled” the attack, prompting an exchange of fire in which one gunman was killed and two guards were injured, he said. “There are two prison guards wounded and one dead among the enemy,” Bazoum said, amending earlier remarks in which he said there were “several dead wearing explosive belts”.Considered to be Niger’s most secure prison, the facility holds the country’s most dangerous detainees, including jihadists from groups active in the Sahel area and Islamist militants from Nigeria’s Boko Haram.It also holds security prisoners from neighbouring Mali.The attack took place just hours after officials confirmed that a US aid worker had been kidnapped and taken across the border to Mali, in the first such abduction of an American in this West African country.Outside the bullet-marked walls of the prison, an AFP correspondent saw the body of one of the attackers, two explosive belts and three charred motorbikes.”This is proof of the terrorist nature of the operation,” an interior ministry statement said. “An unknown number (of gunmen) who were heavily armed… fled and our forces are searching for them.”Speaking to AFP, a source in the security services said the gunmen had been spotted by troops guarding the facility, prompting an exchange of fire. “They were unable to get near the jail because a gunfight broke out with soldiers who are guarding it,” the source said. The prison is located in a bushy area which is linked to the country’s main highway by a dirt track which runs for several kilometres and has been left deliberately unpaved to make access difficult.Initial reports said the attackers arrived on motorbikes but failed to get into the facility. On the runOutside the prison, the body of the attacker was clothed in a grey robe and a turban. Around his waist was an undetonated explosive belt.Another explosive belt was visible on one of the motorbikes.Speaking to AFP, the security source said troops were hunting for several other attackers who had fled the scene, saying the number involved in the attack “remains unknown.”Security was considerably stepped up at checkpoints leading into Niamey, an AFP correspondent said. Attacks on prisons are common in this arid west African nation, which is one of the world’s poorest countries.In October 2014, gunmen attacked a jail at Ouallam, 100 kilometres north of Niamey, freeing several prisoners. In June 2013, another armed group stormed a civilian prison in the capital, killing two warders and freeing 22 “terrorist” prisoners, among them Boko Haram fighters.They also freed a high-profile Malian criminal convicted of killing four Saudi Arabian nationals, and the murder of an American in Niamey in 2000.