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Niger's President
Mahamdou Issoufou (R) speaks with foreign military officers in Diffa, eastern
Niger, on February 21, 2015. Military advisers have been dispatched to southern
Niger to assist troops from Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Benin in the
regional fight against Boko Haram. AFP Photo / Stringer
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Boko Haram militants attacked two villages in southern
Niger's Diffa region overnight, killing at least 40 civilians, two security
sources said on Thursday.
AFP reports it was the second major
cross-border attack by the Nigerian Islamist group this week, following twin
suicide bombings in Chad's capital on Monday that killed at least 34 people.
The attackers drove into
the villages in the Gueskerou area with cars and motorbikes and shot residents
before setting fire to the mostly straw thatched houses where others were
hiding, the sources said.
"In all, at least 30
were killed. Some of them died when the houses were set alight," said one
of the security officials. The source said he expected the death toll to rise
because a number of survivors had serious burns
Gueskerou is along the
banks of the Komadugu River separating Niger from Nigeria.
Despite a regional military
operation to beat back Boko Haram, southern Niger has been attacked dozens of
times this year. Its government has declared a state of emergency for the
region and has arrested more than 600 people it accuses of links to the group.
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