Suspected Boko Haram insurgents launch deadly attack on military base in Niger
Suspected Boko haram members launched a deadly predawn raid Wednesday on a military base in southeastern Niger’s Diffa region, which has been a target of Boko Haram jihadists, local sources said.
It is the latest in an increasingly brazen string of attacks near the west African country’s Nigerian border, where the radical Islamist insurgency has claimed hundreds of lives.
“The Blabrine military unit was targeted last night. The situation is ongoing,” a municipal source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Around 10 people were killed during the raid which was launched around 3:00 am (0200 GMT), the source said, adding that the situation was unclear and not yet under control.
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“The local civil authorities are preparing to assist the population,” the source said.
A senior official in Diffa, where the Blabrine base is located, confirmed the attack.
“There have been deaths and military equipment has been torched,” the official said.
Diffa, which borders the birthplace of Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, has been hit by repeated cross-border attacks by the Nigerian jihadist group since 2015.
There was a lull in the attacks late last year, but they have ramped up since March when 10 civilians were killed by a suicide bomber in the town of N’Guigmi, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Blabrine base.
The mayor of Kabalewa, a village close to N’Guigmi, and his wife were kidnapped by Boko Haram members earlier this month.
Source: France 24
