Nine Chadian soldiers were killed and 16 wounded after being ambushed by Boko Haram fighters in northeastern Nigeria, the Chadian army said today.
A military spokesman said fighting took place on Wednesday about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the town of Malam Fatori, which Niger said was retaken by regional forces fighting the Islamist radicals earlier this week.
"Elements of the Chad-Niger (military alliance) were killed in a pocket of resistance," Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP.
"After heavy fighting, the armed forces of Chad and Niger totally cleaned up the zone," the spokesman added.
Large quantities of equipment were also seized by the soldiers.
When the joint force took Malam Fatori on Tuesday, they were unopposed because Boko Haram fighters had gone, but some of the Islamists remained in the vicinity, Agouna said.
Niger's army was due to release casualty figures, he added.
The capture of Malam Fatori was crucial for the regional coalition, which also includes Cameroon and Benin, and has finally moved into Nigeria as outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan came under mounting criticism for the failure of a powerful army to defeat the Islamists.
Chadian and Nigerien troops made the town a primary target once they entered Nigeria on March 8, marking the start of foreign military operations on the home territory of the Islamist sect.
After the swift capture of the Nigerian town of Damasak, coalition troops have pressed on eastwards close to the border with Niger, successively taking Gachagar, Talagam, Abadam, then Malam Fatori.
18 Killed, 42 Injured In Series Of Suicide Attacks In Nigeria Explained: Nigeria's Spiralling Kidnapping Crisis "I Saw Corpses Of My Friends": Farmers Beheaded In Violence-Hit Nigeria Tear Gas Fired After Kolkata Protest Against Doctor's Rape-Murder Turns Violent 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Mob Vandalised Kolkata Doctor Rape Murder Case Crime Scene? Cops Respond NEET PG 2024 Results To Be Out Soon, Check Details Indian Gaming Products Should Make Mark Worldwide: PM Modi Ayatollah Khamenei Warns Of "Divine Wrath" If Iran Backs Down Against Israel Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.