Twenty-three Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush in western Niger during an offensive near the border with Burkina Faso, the defence ministry said.

The soldiers were engaged in cleaning up operations near Burkina Faso's Mai region on Tuesday and Wednesday and were killed during a "complex ambush", it said, adding that "about 30 terrorists had been neutralised".

Niger – a landlocked country of 25 million people in one of the most unstable parts of the world – recently announced it was suspending military cooperation with the United States.

For over 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 governed regions in the world. Terrorism, banditry, trafficking (humans, arms, drugs), cattle rustling and armed robbery have thrived in the region.

In September 2023, the Military government of Niger had corrected the price of uranium paid by France.

According to a report published in The Spectacle Niger—a prominent player in the global uranium market—has made a daring decision and increased the price of uranium from €0.80/kg to €200/kg.

According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), Niger is the world's seventh-biggest producer of uranium and Niger was the second-largest supplier of natural uranium to the European Union in 2022.

This decision is expected to boost the Niger’s economy and the global uranium market.

France, historically Niger's primary uranium buyer, and bought uranium from Niger at the rate of €0.80 per kilogram. Ironically, on the other hand, France bought similar uranium from Canada at a price of €200/kg.