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.
Credit: Reuters
