NIAMEY: Suspected Boko Haram militants launched an attack on the prison in the southern Niger town of Diffa late on Saturday, military sources said, in an apparent bid to free fellow members of the Nigerian Islamist group held there.
Three of the assailants and one soldier were killed before the attack was repelled, the sources said. Boko Haram also attacked the prison in February.
'When the attack was repelled, the assailants fled, probably back into the town,' one military source said. 'We are searching for them.'
A second military source said the attackers may have been residents of Diffa, as no one had seen them enter the town.
Boko Haram is seeking to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Despite losing territory to an offensive by regional militaries this year, Boko Haram has carried out a wave of deadly attacks in Nigeria, Chad and Niger in recent weeks.
The group has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, which has declared an Islamic caliphate in the large parts of Iraq and Syria that it controls.
Three of the assailants and one soldier were killed before the attack was repelled, the sources said. Boko Haram also attacked the prison in February.
'When the attack was repelled, the assailants fled, probably back into the town,' one military source said. 'We are searching for them.'
Boko Haram is seeking to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Despite losing territory to an offensive by regional militaries this year, Boko Haram has carried out a wave of deadly attacks in Nigeria, Chad and Niger in recent weeks.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2015
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Meta Removes 63,000 Accounts Involved In "Sextortion" Scams From Nigeria EU’s MiCA Inspires Nigerian Policy Analyst to Urge for Similar Crypto Legislation: Report 18 Killed, 42 Injured In Series Of Suicide Attacks In Nigeria Nurse Raped, Killed On Way Home, Body Found 9 Days Later In UP "Don't Expect Anything From Me": Kolkata Hospital's New Principal Loses Cool This US City Has Been Declared America's Least Desirable, Survey Finds Trump To Hold Press Conference, His Campaign Adds Senior Advisers Left, BJP, Creating Unrest: Mamata Banerjee On Midnight Attack At Hospital 'Don't Club Us With Others,' Says Manipur's Thadou Tribe, Waits For Peace Plan Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.