50 000 People Flee Niger After Boko Haram Attacks

The United Nations is reporting that close to 50 000 people have fled towns in Niger’s southeast region following the deadly Boko Haram attacks over the past few days.

The first attacks started last Friday when a group of Boko Haram militants attacked a military post in the town of Bossa.

The terrorists managed to kill 24 Niger soldiers, as well as 2 Nigerian soldiers.

A local journalist said that the Boko Haram gunmen arrived in the town at dusk and only left the town in the early hours of Saturday morning.

While they were wreaking havoc on the town, they also burned police facilities and military barracks, as well as destroying local administrative offices.

They then started looting shops and took food supplies with them.

The journalist also said that while the soldiers attacked the Boko Haram militants as well, they later retreated.

“…They came in large numbers shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ [God is Greatest],” he said of Boko Haram’s arrival in the town.

He then continued saying that after a fierce battle between the terrorists and the Niger soldiers in the town, the military then retreated, which in turn left the town in the hands of Boko Haram:

“…The troops retreated, leaving Boko Haram militants in control of the town,” he said.

It is believed, however, that the military managed to kill around 55 Boko Haram members in the battle.

After the Boko Haram members left the town, the locals started fleeing the area around sunrise, as the journalist accounted:

“…Everybody started leaving the town and surrounding villages at dawn after the gunmen had left,” he said.

A UN refugee agency spokesperson, Adrian Edwards, confirmed that people started fleeing the town and surrounding area:

“…[sic] an estimated 50 000 people or so fled,” he said.