Niger’s government said on Thursday that Boko Haram militants killed 18 people, including a local religious leader, in an attack on a village in Niger’s southern border area of Diffa on the Nigerian border.
The Islamist militants rarely claim attacks but they are based in the north of Nigeria and often launch cross border attacks in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
The gunmen arrived in the village of Gogone near the shores of Lake Chad on foot and fired indiscriminately on residents and attacked their homes, security sources said.
They also fired rockets in the attack, the sources said.
“Boko Haram has once again sent us into mourning,” said Justice Minister and government spokesman Marou Amadou in a statement. “Eighteen villagers were killed, including the chief imam for the village whose throat was slit by his own nephew.”
Niger’s Diffa region has suffered dozens of cross-border strikes this year by Boko Haram, whose stronghold in northeast Nigeria lies just a few kilometers (miles) away.
A state of emergency has been declared there in a bid to boost security. But the attackers often manage to flee across the River Komadougou, marking the border with Nigeria.
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