Niger authorities have imposed a curfew in the restive Tillaberi region after several inmates escaped from a fortified prison known to hold militants.
The interior ministry said the incident happened on Thursday at Koutoukale prison, about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the capital Niamey.
Two other escape attempts at the facility — in 2016 and 2019 — were thwarted.
Niger’s armed forces are under pressure from militant attacks in the West and defending the military government that took power in a coup last year.
The ministry did not specify in its statement how many inmates escaped in the latest jailbreak.
However, captured Islamist fighters from al-Qaeda in the Sahel and Islamic State groups are believed to be among those who have done so.
Officials have imposed a nighttime curfew across the Tillaberi region and ordered increased vigilance. The curfew restricts all pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular movement.
Niger and its Sahel neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, all under military rule, have struggled to contain rising jihadist attacks.
On Monday, at least 14 soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded in an attack by suspected al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups in the Tillaberi area.
The army was ambushed between the villages of Ila Fari and Djangore and 24 soldiers are still reported missing.
All three military-led countries have expelled French troops who were there to help fight jihadist groups and turned to Russia for military support.
Thousands of people have been killed in the unrest and more than three million have been displaced, creating a profound humanitarian crisis.
