A Boko Haram assault against Nigerien villagers of Toumour on Eid el Kabir day, has ended with the insurgents getting more than they bargained for.
Thirty members of the group and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in the fighting in the southeastern Diffa region of Niger, according to the defense ministry, which issued a statement late on Tuesday.
Reuters reported that the clash took place Monday in the village near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border, an area that has been plagued by violence from the Islamist militant group.
Boko Haram had taken the nearby town of Bosso in early June, in an attack that killed 32 soldiers and was the deadliest Boko Haram assault in Niger since April 2015. Since then, Chad has sent troops to help Niger wage a counterattack.
Fighting began on Monday morning when the army fell into an ambush, the statement said, adding that six soldiers were also injured and two militants were captured.
“The Boko Haram fighters were trying to prevent people from praying to mark the feast of sacrifice,” said Laouan Boukar, a resident of Toumour, referring to the important Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha that was on Monday.
Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamic state adhering to strict Sharia law in northeastern Nigeria since 2009. About 2.1 million people have been displaced and thousands have been killed during the insurgency.
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