Unidentified gunmen have killed at least 18 soldiers in an attack on a military camp in western Niger, local residents and security sources say.
The raid occurred on Monday near the town of Inates, close to the Mali border where Islamist militants are active and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State's West African branch killed 28 soldiers in May.
The militants also blew up two vehicles.
Niger hosts the African Union summit from July 6-9 less than 200km away in capital Niamey. In the run-up, the European Union has been training Nigerien forces to respond to militant attacks.
Two security sources confirmed the death toll, and one of them said about a dozen vehicles had been stolen. Jihadists have previously launched attacks using vehicles stolen in previous raids.
Security has deteriorated in recent months across West Africa's Sahel region, a semi-arid strip of land south of the Sahara.
France and the US have deployed thousands of troops to the region to counter jihadist groups linked to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.
The attacks have also helped to stoke ethnic violence between rival farming and herding communities, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso.
