Inmates escape from one of Niger’s most fortified prisons where jihadis are held

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Nigerien authorities are enforcing a curfew as they search for inmates who escaped from one of the country’s most fortified prisons in the Tillaberi region on Thursday night. Niger’s Ministry of Interior issued an alert about the Thursday night attack on Koutoukale prison. The interior ministry did not say how the inmates escaped, nor how they fled. It asked government agencies to beef up security and engage local leaders. The prison was last attacked in 2019 when suspected jihadi fighters tried to break into it but were repelled by security forces.