|
Fighters from the
Nigerian militant group killed five civilians in their initial
attack on the village located in the West African nation's Bosso
district. Niger soldiers drove back the militants, killing
around 20 of them, the officers said.
"Reactingly quickly, the government's forces were able to push
them back. Most of the Boko Haram elements have been
neutralized," said one of the officers, based in the Diffa
border region.
"The situation is under control and we are carrying out clean-up
operations," he added.
Boko Haram has ramped up cross-border attacks into Niger, Chad
and Cameroon from its strongholds in northeastern Nigeria in
recent months.
Almost a third of Diffa's nearly 600,000 inhabitants have been
displaced by the violence.
A long-awaited 8,700-troop-strong regional task force is set to
begin joint operations soon against the Islamist fighters when
the region's rainy season ends, a top United Nations official
said late last month.
(Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalaki; Writing by Joe Bavier;
Editing by Toby Chopra)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
|
