Boko Haram militants kill 32 soldiers in Nigerien attack

Boko Haram militants kill 32 soldiers in Nigerien attack

Saturday, June 4, 2016 5:44 pm


Boko Haram members

Boko Haram members

Hundreds of Boko Haram militants under fire by Nigerian troops, invaded the Nigeren town of Bosso, in Diffa region, near the Nigerian border, killing 32 soldiers of the Multinational Joint Task Force.

Thirty of the soldiers were from Niger and two from Nigeria.

According to the Niger defence ministry said on Saturday, the attack was carried out bu ‘hundreds of assailants’.

“The counter-offensive conducted early this morning helped to retake control of all the positions in the city of Bosso. The situation is under control”, the ministry added.

“A sweep is ongoing in the area with the mobilisation of all land and air means”.

Seven other soldiers from Niger and eight from Nigeria were injured in the attack, according to the ministry, which reported “several deaths” among the assailants.

Bosso is part of the Diffa region, which is home to many refugees and internally displaced people who have sought to avoid Boko Haram violence elsewhere. The region has been targeted numerous times in attacks blamed on the militants.

Six people were killed last month in the village of Yebi, 4 km (2.5 miles) from Bosso, in an attack thought to have been carried out by Boko Haram.

The group, headquartered across the border in northeastern Nigeria, wants to create an emirate and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law.


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