At a time when the Nigerian authorities announced that at least 30 people were killed in clashes in the center of the country, the White House announced, on Tuesday, that a convoy of American vehicles was attacked in Nigeria, but no American citizen was injured.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said: “What I can tell you is that there are no American casualties.”
fatalities
He added, “We are aware of some injuries and maybe even some deaths, but I don’t want to get too ahead of our current situation.”
For its part, the Nigerian government announced that at least 30 people were killed in clashes in the center of the country.
Last October, the US State Department instructed its non-essential diplomats to leave the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
The US State Department said, in a statement: These instructions came after fears of possible terrorist attacks in Nigeria.
Yesterday, 3 soldiers from Nigeria and Niger were killed, and at least 12 others were wounded, yesterday, after attacks by terrorists in northeastern Nigeria.
Joint Task Force
The soldiers are part of a multinational joint task force that includes troops from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, seeking to end an extremist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions.
A Nigerian military source said: The two Nigerian soldiers from the multitasking force were killed when an explosive device exploded in a car they were traveling in while they were chasing gunmen in the Areji area in northeastern Borno state, a stronghold of the rebellion.
10 soldiers were wounded
The source added that 10 soldiers, including the unit commander, were wounded and two other civilians working with the forces were wounded.
A source in the Niger army: A soldier from the country was killed when another explosive device exploded in a vehicle he was traveling in in another area of Ariji, and it was not immediately clear how many were wounded.
A situation report from the Joint Multi-Task Force confirmed the attacks, Reuters reported.
A spokesman for the Multinational Joint Task Force, Lieutenant Colonel Kamaruddin Adijoke, could not immediately be reached for comment.
