India, Jan. 31 -- Niger's military leader has accused the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of supporting armed groups that attacked an air force base in the capital, wounding four soldiers and damaging an aircraft. Niger's forces responded quickly to the assault early Thursday, killing 20 of the attackers and arresting 11 others, state television reported.

"We remind the sponsors of those mercenaries, who are Emmanuel Macron (president of France), Patrice Talon (president of Benin) and Alassane Ouattara (president of Ivory Coast), we have sufficiently heard them bark, and they should now in turn be prepared to hear us roar," General Abdourahamane Tchiani told state television late Thursday. He didn't provide any evidence to ba...