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Niger: Spectacular Escape from Koutoukalé Prison Where 200 Terrorists Are Detained

In Niger, a spectacular escape occurred this Thursday, July 11. The Koutoukalé high-security prison, very close to Niamey, was the scene of a mutiny by its inmates. A large number of prisoners managed to escape with weapons. Nigerien security forces began pursuing them—Koutoukalé prison where more than 200 terrorists are locked up.

A spectacular escape took place on July 11 at the Koutoukalé high-security prison located a few kilometers from Niamey, the capital of Niger. After mutinying, a significant number of detainees managed to escape with the Nigerian forces on their heels and immediately put on alert.

The escape occurred at midday. It was shots and explosions inside the prison that alerted the guards. According to security sources, the mutineers quickly gained the upper hand. Many of them managed to cross the armored doors, the barbed wire, and the vast trenches that surround the Koutoukalé prison, before disappearing into the wild with the loot of large quantities of weapons and vehicles.

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However, we do not know how many detainees escaped, nor their identities. Several hundred terrorists were notably detained in this prison, as well as criminals and drug traffickers.

This prison is considered the safest in the country. The authorities keep the most dangerous detainees there, notably jihadist elements from Sahelian groups or the Nigerian group Boko Haram. This property is located in a bushy area with no buildings nearby. It is connected to National Road 1 by a track, deliberately left unpaved.

General mobilization of the authorities

A radio message from the Minister of the Interior to all governors confirmed this escape. It launched an appeal to the chiefs of surrounding villages and religious leaders to denounce any suspicious individual. The entire Niger River region is put on alert, particularly the regions of Niamey and Tillabéri where a curfew has been decreed in the eponymous city.

Questions are piling up about this spectacular escape. Koutoukalé prison is a fortress known to be impregnable. Twice, jihadists from the Malian border had tried to free their comrades and had always failed. How could this heavily guarded prison fall under the control of its inmates who were able to obtain weapons and overpower their jailers before fleeing? This is what an investigation into the progress of this escape will have to reveal.

the army eliminates a military leader of the Islamic State group in the Sahel

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