Islamist militant group Boko Haram attacked a military base in eastern Niger, expanding its reign of terror across the region, witnesses told dpa on Friday.
It is the first time the Nigeria-based insurgents launched an assault in Niger, after infiltrating northern Cameroon for the past few months, killing dozens of people.
Boko Haram clashed with soldiers Friday morning in Bosso, a town that borders neighbouring Nigeria.
A causality figure could not be confirmed.
The attack comes a day after Boko Haram killed 31 Muslims in northern Cameroon, when it burnt three mosques in the town of Fotokol, also near the Nigerian border.
Insurgents on Wednesday killed 82 civilians in Fotokol, as well as six Cameroonian and 13 Chadian soldiers.
Boko Haram descended on Fotokol in apparent retaliation for the deaths of at least 200 of their members killed this week by Chadian and Nigerian troops.
Nigerian and Chadian aircraft have been bombing Boko Haram hideouts since Monday.
About 2,000 Chadian soldiers were stationed this week along the Nigeria-Cameroon border after the African Union agreed on January 31 to send 7,500 troops to fight Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has killed more than 13,000 people since 2009 in northern Nigeria under the pretext of trying to establish an Islamist state.
The insurgents control about 130 villages and towns in northern Nigeria, a territory the size of Belgium, and have sparked fears of regional instability.
GNA
