Boko Haram on Friday as they repulsed attacks
on the south-eastern town of Bosso,
near the
Nigerian border, Niger state television said.
Four soldiers from Niger were killed in the fighting
against Boko Haram, whose insurgency is
spreading from Nigeria to neighbouring states.
Niger's defence minister reported that a civilian
was also killed and 17 other troops were
wounded.
Chadian forces, who have taken a lead role in
battling Boko Haram in recent days, fought
alongside Niger's troops on Friday. Chad's
commander in Niger, General Yaya Daoud, was
also wounded with a gunshot to the stomach, a
security source said.
Niger's Defence Minister Mahamadou Karidjo said
calm had been restored to both Bosso and Diffa.
Intensified battle
The clashes in Niger came as regional efforts
intensified to battle Boko Haram, which has
waged a six-year insurgency centred in
northeastern Nigeria, where the Islamists have
seized swathes of territory.
The conflict has killed at least 13 000 people and
forced more than a million from their homes since
2009.
Niger announced on Thursday that on Monday it
would ask its parliament to approve sending
troops to Nigeria to fight the militants alongside
Chadian and Cameroon soldiers.
