Niger: Boko Haram strikes again in Diffa

As reported by Deutsche Welle on 20 May 2020, twelve government soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants on a military outpost in Niger"s Diffa region. This outpost has been the scene of repeated clashes with militants in the last few weeks. The report states: "Several violent clashes have pitted the army against Islamist fighters in the region since the start of May. Last week, 75 Boko Haram combatants were killed in the region - both in southeast Niger and across the border in Nigeria." Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "Various militant groups in the Sahel have vowed to raise their level of attacks during the global COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Boko Haram has been repeatedly targeting Diffa. However, with numerous different militant groups moving between countries in the Lake Chad area, the governments of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, in particular, are all struggling to cope. Added to this, Christian communities in Niger fear possible retaliation by Islamist groups, following government operations against the growing insurgency."