Significant fighting pitted the Nigerien army and Islamist Boko Haram fighters on Friday (May 28) in Diffa, the large city in south-eastern Niger, near Nigeria, local authorities said, who have not yet announced any action. balance sheet.
“
These are elements of BH (Boko Haram) who attacked Diffa on the side of the locality of Bagara (south of the city) around 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm (2:00 pm and 3:00 pm GMT).
There was the reaction of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) with heavy fire, including heavy weapons
, ”a senior official from the governorate of the Diffa region told AFP.
Read also: In the Sahel, Boko Haram sees the coronavirus as a godsend
A prefectural source also confirmed this attack, without explaining the circumstances. "
We do not yet have an assessment, but we deplore the movements of panic of the populations
", explained this official of the governorate, who ensures that "
the situation is under control
" and "
calm has returned
" in this city of 200,000 inhabitants .
Since 2015, the city of Diffa has been attacked several times by elements of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), resulting from a split from Boko Haram, killing several people. In early May 2020, intense fighting had pitted the Nigerien army against the jihadists around the Doutchi bridge, which links Niger to Nigeria, south of Diffa. This checkpoint is also close to Damasak, a Nigerian town located 30 kilometers south of Diffa. Damasak was conquered in October 2014 by Boko Haram after heavy fighting with the Nigerian army before being taken over by the armies of Chad and Niger.
In mid-April, jihadists from the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) group carried out series of attacks on the city of Damasak, in northeastern Nigeria: "
unprecedented
" violence
, according to sources local, for the control of a strategic axis. According to the UN, the Diffa region is home to 300,000 Nigerian and displaced refugees, fleeing the abuses of jihadists since 2015. The conflict with Boko Haram and Iswap jihadists has claimed more than 36,000 lives since 2009 in northeast Nigeria and nearly 2 million people still cannot return to their homes. Niger also has to face in the West, on its borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, frequent attacks from Sahelian jihadist groups including the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS).