NIAMEY (Reuters) - At least 22 soldiers were killed in Niger on Thursday when unknown assailants attacked a camp for Malian refugees, the West African nation’s Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said.

The attack targeted a camp in the village of Tassalit in Niger’s Tahoua region, around 525 km (326 miles) northeast of the capital Niamey.

“We received information of an attack on the camp in Tassalit. For the moment we are told there are 22 dead, but that is not a total death toll,” he said in comments broadcast on state-run television TeleSahel. “The death toll could increase.”

Rafini gave no further information concerning the suspected identities of the attackers or whether any civilians had been killed or wounded.

The camp’s residents are Malians who fled to neighbouring Niger after Islamist militants, some with links to al Qaeda, seized Mali’s desert north in 2012. A French-led military intervention drove back the insurgents a year later but violence is on the rise across the region’s arid Sahel band.

Niger’s small army is currently battling Boko Haram militants who launch raids across its southern border from Nigeria while seeking to prevent an overflow of attacks from Mali.

There are also concerns that Islamic State fighters could be pushed onto its territory by a government offensive in Libya.</s>Niger troops patrol near Diffa on June 16, 2016 following attacks by Boko Haram fighters in the region. By Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File)

Niamey (AFP) - Twenty-two soldiers were killed in an attack probably carried out by jihadists, on a camp in Niger sheltering Malian refugees, a security official told AFP on Friday.

"Some 30 to 40 heavily armed men speaking in Tuareg carried out the attack (on Thursday), killing 22 soldiers," the official said. The UN refugee agency confirmed the death toll.</s>AT least 20 soldiers have been killed in Niger in an attack on a camp for Malian refugees, officials say.

The attack took place in the western Tahoua region, Prime Minister Brigi Rafini told state TV.

Assailants targeted a military post near the camp, a local official told the Associated Press.

Northern and central Mali remain unstable nearly four years after France led a military intervention to drive out jihadists, BBC reported.

Three soldiers were also injured in the attack, the local official said, and Prime Minister Rafini said the death toll could rise.

Last month, two refugees were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a security post near Niger’s Tabarey-barey camp, which also houses Malian refugees.

Niger’s military is currently battling Boko Haram militants launching raids across the country’s southern border from Nigeria as well as attempting to prevent violence spilling over from Mali to the west.</s>NIAMEY, Niger — Niger's government says attackers who killed at least 22 soldiers at a Malian refugee camp likely came from Mali.

The government said Friday it is investigating the attack a day earlier that wounded at least five at a security post for the Tazalit camp, in the Tahoua region of Niger near the border with Mali.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Niger to reinforce security at refugee camps and other vulnerable targets. He also called on authorities to bring perpetrators to justice.

Northern and central Mali remain unstable nearly four years after France led a military intervention to drive out Islamic extremists.

Niger's government has declared Saturday a national day of mourning. The nation is also battling against Nigeria-based Boko Haram extremists in its south.
Unknown assailants attack a refugee camp near the village of Tassalit, in Niger's Tahoua Region, killing at least 22 soldiers.