"Armed bandits" have killed a Niger soldier and seriously wounded
three others in Nigeria's volatile north-east, a high-ranking Niger
security official told AFP Thursday, in new violence to hit an area
considered as the homebase of Islamist sect Boko Haram.
"A soldier from Niger was killed yesterday (Wednesday) around 7:00 pm
(1800 GMT) and three others were wounded in an attack by eight armed
bandits on Nigerian territory," the official said on condition of
anonymity.
The soldiers were part of a west African force based in Baga, a town
located in Nigeria's restive northeastern state of Borno.
The three wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in eastern Niger's
Diffa, near the border with Nigeria.
Diffa-based private radio station Anfani claimed the soldiers were
"ambushed by Boko Haram 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border with
Niger".
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in
Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, but the group is believed to be made up
of different factions with varying aims.
The group has attacked churches, mosques, newspaper offices, the
security forces, politicians and a UN building, among other targets.
According to an estimate earlier this year, Boko Haram's insurgency
has claimed more than 3,600 lives, including deaths caused by the
security forces. The current toll is likely much higher.
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