At least five Niger soldiers were killed and a dozen others wounded this week in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in the country’s southeast, security sources told AFP on Friday.

“There are dead soldiers and another dozen who were wounded in this Boko Haram attack in Toummour,” one security source told AFP, while another source said “at least five soldiers and one civilian” had been killed.

Toummour is located in the Diffa administrative region, which lies on the frontier with Nigeria and Chad. It has suffered a string of deadly Boko Haram attacks since February 2015, although the area has been relatively calm in recent months.

Last week, the United Nations said there had been a sharp fall in the number of Niger civilians kidnapped, killed or wounded by Boko Haram last year, citing an overall toll of 141 compared with 227 a year earlier.

It did not detail the number of military casualties.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in northeast Nigeria in 2009 that in 2015 spilt into Niger. It also affects the country’s other neighbours, Chad and Cameroon.

Overall, more than 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million displaced in the conflict.

In a related development, Alhaji Yusuf Muhammed, Chairman Madagali Local Government Area has confirmed the killing of five people in Kaya village by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.

Speaking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) through telephone, Muhammed said that the incident occurred on Thursday at about 10 pm.

He said several people injured, while houses and other properties were destroyed during the attack.

He said following the frequent attacks on towns and villages in the area many people were fleeing the area to other parts of the state and neighboring Cameroon Republic.

“Five persons killed in midnight attack in Kaya Village a suburb of Gulak town by suspected Boko Haram members.

“Three days ago, three persons were also killed in another attack in Pallam village.” Muhammed said.

He said that that from Jan. 1 to date, the area recorded about 10 deadly attacks.

Adamawa Police command spokesman, Othman Abubakar, also confirmed the attack.

Abubakar said that the command was still gathering information about the incident. (NAN)

•Based on reports by AFP and NAN.