7 Nigerien peacekeepers killed in Ivory Coast

Seven UN peacekeepers from Niger have been killed in an ambush in western Ivory Coast, in the first attack of its kind in the country, a UN spokesman said Friday in Abidjan.

“According to an initial tally, seven Nigerien peacekeepers lost their lives in an ambush in the west of the country,” the spokesman said, in a report by AFP.

The Nigerien soldiers statement, were on patrol in Tai, Western part of the country, before they were attacked.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Mr Boert Koenders, expressed concern about the killing.

The western part of Cote d’Ivoire, a strong hold of the former Ivorian President Lauren Gbagbo, has remained restive in recent time.