Boko Haram kills 30 in Niger

NIAMEY, Niger: Boko Haram militants attacked two villages in southern Niger’s Diffa region overnight, killing at least 30 civilians, two security sources said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Chad’s military carried out a series of air strikes against Boko Haram bases in Nigeria in retaliation for twin suicide bombings this week in the Chadian capital N’Djamena that killed at least 34 people, it said in a statement.
The Chadian army said the strikes had caused heavy human and material damage to six of the militants’ bases. It provided no further details.
Chad has been a driving force behind a regional military campaign that has inflicted a series of defeats on Boko Haram since January, though the terrorist group has retained the capacity to carry out a wave of bombings in recent weeks.
“Our defense and security forces will hunt down without mercy these terrorist without faith nor law so that spilling the blood of Chadians will not go unpunished,” said the written statement by army spokesman Col. Azem Bermendoa.
Monday’s simultaneous attacks on a police headquarters and a training school were the first of their kind in the central African nation, which has emerged as a key Western ally against militant groups in the Sahel.
The government, which said that four Boko Haram fighters were among the 27 dead, has detained at least five suspects in connection with attacks.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.