Chad: After Chadian air strikes on Boko Haram bases in Nigeria, rebels attack 2 Niger villages
Chad’s military announced it had carried out air strikes against Boko Haram bases in Nigeria in retaliation for twin suicide bombings in the Chadian capital N’Djamena this week that killed at least 38 people.
The air raids caused heavy human and material damage to six of the Islamist militants’ bases, the military said late on Wednesday (Thursday NZT), without providing further details.
A few hours after Chad’s announcement, Boko Haram militants attacked two villages in neighbouring Niger’s southern region of Diffa, killing 38 civilians, most of them women and children, and burning over 100 homes, Niger’s government said.
The attackers drove into the villages in the Gueskerou area, along the banks of the Komadugu River which separates Niger and Nigeria, in cars and on motorbikes and shot residents before setting fire to the thatched houses where others were hiding.