Thirteen paramilitary police were killed in a fresh attack in Niger's restive southwest, just weeks after a deadly ambush on a joint US-Niger patrol.
The region which borders Mali has faced a series of recent jihadist incursions.
Yesterday's dawn raid happened in the town of Ayorou in the Tillaberi region, 200 kilometres northwest of the capital Niamey.
"The Ayorou gendarmerie was the subject of a terrorist attack perpetrated by unidentified armed elements in vehicles and on motorcycles," said defence ministry spokesman Colonel Amadou Samba Gagara on public television.
"The provisional assessment is as follows: 13 dead soldiers and five others injured."
A security source said the attackers arrived in five vehicles and fled when military reinforcements arrived. Villagers saw them leave carrying bodies.
On October 4, four US and four Niger soldiers were killed in what Niamey called a "terrorist attack" that confirmed the little-known presence of US troops in the turbulent area as part of a counter-terrorism operation.
The source yesterday revealed a village elder had been arrested in connection with that attack.
"The chief of Tongo Tongo (village) was basically arrested after the October 4 attack for 'complicity' with the attackers," the security source told AFP.
He said the chief "delayed a meeting for a few minutes" as local elders gathered to meet US soldiers which had aided the ambush by giving the assailants an opportunity to carry out their attack.
Karimou Soumana, a Tillaberi regional lawmaker, confirmed the arrest to parliament and said the chief was being urged to reveal the attackers' whereabouts.
Niamey and Washington had both earlier indicated they believed there was "complicity" between some local officials and jihadist fighters.
The Tallaberi region has become increasingly unstable due to numerous deadly attacks attributed to jihadist groups who regularly target army positions and refugee camps.
In mid-May unidentified assailants attacked the same Ayorou gendarmerie without causing any casualties.
On Friday, parliament agreed a three-month extension of the state of emergency in western Niger because of the "continuing threat" of armed groups.
The UN said this week it has documented "at least 46 attacks" in Niger since February 2016.
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