Niger's Defense Ministry Spokesperson Moustapha Ledru announced the
news on the country’s national television on Friday, adding that the
counter-terror operations were launched on September 12 in the vicinity
of the villages of Gueskerou and Toumour in Niger’s southeastern region
of Diffa, near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border.
He further said two soldiers from the bilateral force sustained light
wounds in the operations, adding that the joint forces also managed to
seize large quantities of weapons and ammunition from fleeing
terrorists.
Ledru went on to say that the militants were killed during the first three days of the week.
The terrorists, however, launched a counter-attack on Gueskerou, some
30 kilometers away from Diffa, late on Wednesday. No casualties were
reported.
Niger's army convoy arrives in the city of Bosso, on June 17, 2016,
following attacks by Boko Haram militants in the region. (Photo by AFP)
“The attack nonetheless caused a psychosis in the population” and “the
assailants torched houses and stole food and medicines after pillaging
shops and a pharmacy,” an unnamed NGO official told AFP.
Niger has been one of the countries affected by more than seven years
of Boko Haram militancy in Nigeria. The Takfiri terrorist group has
routinely launched attacks across the border from Nigeria into Niger,
Chad and Cameroon.
Those countries have in return stepped up carrying out
counter-offensives in the form of unilateral operations or contributing
to a multi-national force against the militant group.
A displaced family fleeing Boko Haram attacks in Bosso are pictured
under a makeshift tent in a camp in the village of the Kidjendi near
Diffa, Niger, June 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
More than 20,000 people have been killed and some 2.6 million more
displaced in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries since Boko Haram
started its campaign in Nigeria in 2008 with the aim of toppling the
central government. The group has pledged allegiance to Daesh (ISIS /
ISIL), another Takfiri terrorist group mainly operating in Iraq and
Syria.
Many blame corrupt officials in the Nigerian government and army for
the continued militancy, as recent reports say Boko Haram is purportedly
receiving some of its arms and ammunition from corrupt Nigerian
officials, Press TV reported.
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