Diffa, some 1,400 km east of Niger’s capital,
Niamey, borders the Nigerian state of Borno, the centre of Boko Haram’s
uprising. Tens of thousands of refugees have fled the fighting to the
arid region, and local Niger officials have repeatedly voiced concerns
over Boko Haram infiltration.
Yacouba Soumana Gaoh, the regional governor of Diffa, said the army had detained two Boko Haram suspects who had robbed a man at gunpoint early on Tuesday in the commune of Chetimari.
“The security forces then fell into an ambush
laid by presumed members of Boko Haram. After fierce fighting,
reinforcements were sent in but the attackers were able to cross over
the border,” he told state television.
The governor said three suspected militants
were captured during the fighting, two of whom suffered gunshot wounds.
There were no casualties among the army troops, but one of their
vehicles was peppered with bullets, he said.
Nine other suspects were later arrested in the regional capital Diffa and the surrounding area, he said.
A military source, who asked not to be
identified, told Reuters he was not aware of any link between the
arrests and the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria last month. A further eight girls were kidnapped from a village by suspected Boko Haram gunmen on Tuesday.
The kidnappings by the Islamists, who say
they are fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria, have shocked a
country long inured to the violence around the northeast and has
outraged international opinion.
Officials in neighbouring Chad and Cameroon
have strongly denied that Boko Haram had taken the girls across the
border into their countries.
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