Niger hit by Boko Haram attacks

Cross-border attacks increasing as conflict spills across frontiers

Boko Haram staged an overnight assault on a border town in Niger and a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a market in the same town a few hours later, witnesses said yesterday, in a sign the extremists’ offensive against the west African nation was intensifying.

The attack on the town of Diffa began on Saturday night, and fighting between Boko Haram and Niger’s army lasted until 5am toward the town’s southern entrance before the extremists were forced to flee and calm was restored, Diffa resident Adam Boukar said.