A joint operation by Nigerien and French troops in southwest Niger killed 120 "terrorists" and seized bomb-making equipment and vehicles, the country's defence ministry said Friday.

As of February 20 "120 terrorists have been neutralised" in the operation in the vast Tillaberi region near the border with Mali and Burkina Faso, the statement said, adding there had been no losses among Nigerien or French troops.

Niger's defence minister Issoufou Katambe praised the "cooperation... in the battle against terrorism," according to the statement.

Authorities in the restive Tillaberi region have ramped up security restrictions, closing markets and banning motorbike traffic after attacks by jihadist groups over December and January killed 174 Nigerien soldiers.

A state of emergency has been in place in the region for the past two years.

Since 2015, Niger has struggled against a wave of jihadist attacks near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso in the west, exacerbating needs in the Tillaberi and Tahoua regions, where nearly 78,000 people have been displaced.

France this year said it would boost its military presence in the troubled west African region by deploying 600 fresh troops to its 4,500-strong operation.

France says dozens of jihadists 'neutralised' in Mali ops
Paris (AFP) Feb 21, 2020 - French soldiers "neutralised" around 50 in a series of operations in Mali this month, the army said Friday as it seeks to quell a years-long insurgency in the West African nation.

The operations were carried out near Mopti in central Mali, where a group of several dozen fighters declared their allegiance to the Islamic State group in a video released in late January, the first such declaration in the region.

The army added that a helicopter assault accompanied by drone strikes northwest of the city on February 9-10 killed a senior leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).

Overall, the chief of staff said it had also destroyed around 30 motorcycles and two pickup trucks, and seized weapons along with cellphones and other electronic equipment.

As a rule the army does not give a precise breakdown of how many people are killed, wounded or captured, using only terms such as neutralised or "taken out of action."

France's 4,500-member Barkhane operation has been stationed in five Sahel countries since 2013 to help train and assist local forces against the Islamic rebellion.

The Barkhane force has stepped up its raids in central Mali since December, in line with France's focus on the so-called "three borders" region covering Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The area is thought to be a stronghold for ISGS, considered the biggest threat among the several jihadist groups across the vast semi-desert region.

This month, France said it would add 600 soldiers to the Barkhane detachment in response to a steady increase in violence in recent months.

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