Two Chadian army helicopters bombed Nigerian Boko Haram positions
on Sunday, killing several dozen militants near a village on the border with
Niger.
Niger and Chadian soldiers have been fighting the Islamist
militants in a joint mission with Nigeria and Cameroon since March 2, in a bid
to end Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency
in northern Nigeria that is threatening regional stability.
The helicopters destroyed several vehicles and motorcycles carrying
fighters in the Nigerian village of Djaboullam, which lies east across the
border from the Niger town of Diffa.
“Niger and Chad had received intelligence that a group of
Boko Haram fighters had gathered in the border village,” .
The Niger military
officer, who requested anonymity, said Boko Haram fighters had moved to
Djaboullam after they were chased from other towns by the Nigerian army.
Militants were also gathering in other border towns from where they routinely
launch mortar rounds into Niger.
“We know they are massing in Malam Fatori, waiting for us to
come,” he said, referring to another
northeast Nigerian town about three kilometers (2 miles) from Bosso, the nearest town across
the border in Niger.
The regional offensive launched this year comes as Nigeria,
Africa’s most populous country and
biggest economy, prepares to hold elections on March 28.
The offensive has succeeded in driving the militants from
several towns and districts they previously held. Chad and Niger forces
captured the town of Damasak from the militants last week.
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