At least 12 soldiers and "dozens of terrorists" were killed in a clash in western Niger's conflict-torn "three borders" zone.

Another eight soldiers were wounded in the confrontation with "hundreds of armed terrorists" five kilometers (three miles) from Fantio, the defense ministry stated Sunday.

It stated that the terrorists' motorcycles were destroyed, and communications equipment was retrieved.

Fantio is a small rural town in the Tillaberi region's Tera area frequently targeted by armed groups linked with al-Qaeda or ISIL.

The ministry said that five individuals from a village in the region were killed and two critically injured in an attack in May. The attack occurred during the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Fitr.

In late June, another attack claimed the deaths of two civilians, a school director, and a retired police inspector. Their assailants also took livestock.

Apart from attacks by armed organizations such as ISIL in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) in the country's west, Niger also faces threats from Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province in the country's southwest, near the Nigerian border.

According to the United Nations' Human Development Index, the parched Sahel state is the world's poorest country.