2,000 Chad troops to fight Boko Haram in Niger

PanARMENIAN.Net - Some 2,000 troops from regional military powerhouse Chad headed to neighboring Niger on Wednesday, June 8 where Boko Haram insurgents inflicted heavy losses in the town of Bosso last week, a military source said, according to AFP.

Chad is a leading member of a multi-national force fighting the Nigeria-based Islamist fighters who have extended their attacks to neighboring countries from their base in northern Nigeria.

Chad's "heavily armed" soldiers will "search everywhere for Boko Haram," added the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Boko Haram on Friday attacked a military post in Bosso in Niger's Diffa region, killing 26 soldiers including two from neighboring Nigeria, in one of its deadliest attacks in Niger.

A total of 55 insurgents from the Nigeria-based Islamist group were killed and "many" injured, according to Niger authorities.

Some 50,000 people have fled the Bosso area, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards said Tuesday, AFP reports.

Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and made more than 2.6 million homeless, leading to calls for more support within the region.

The UNHCR said most of those fleeing the violence in Bosso had walked to Toumour, some 30 kilometres to the west.