Suspected Boko Haram fighters in
motorised canoes have attacked a Niger
army base on an island in
Lake Chad,
Niger’s Defence Ministry said.
The Niger Army, sources said, might have
suffered “heavy losses” in the attack on
Karamga Island.
Casualty figures were not provided in a
defence ministry statement.
A similar attack on Karamga Island in
February killed seven Niger soldiers and 14
Boko Haram fighters, military officials said
at the time.
The ministry said in the latest attack, the
assailants approached at dawn in about 10
motorised canoes.
“Operations are ongoing with the aid of
allies” to put an end to the insurgent
movement, the statement said.
Niger joined a regional offensive earlier this
year that is credited with retaking large
swaths of territory in Nigeria from Boko
Haram.
The original plans called for a 8,750-
member regional force with troops also
coming from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and
Benin.
In addition to the Lake Chad violence,
Niger towns bordering Nigeria were
targeted in the early weeks of the
offensive.
