Mayor says several people also wounded after two female suicide bombers detonate explosives and gunmen attack civilians.

At least 10 people have been killed in a coordinated attack by suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers and gunmen on a town in eastern Niger, according to the local mayor.

The attack took place late on Tuesday in N’Guigmi, which lies in the north of the Diffa region, near Lake Chad, an area that bore the brunt of cross-border infiltration by the Nigerian-based armed group.

“Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen then attacked civilians,” Abba Kaya Issa, the mayor of N’Guigmi, told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

“We have a provisional toll of 10 dead plus the two suicide bombers,” along with “seven or eight” wounded, he said, blaming “Boko Haram elements” for the assault.

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“One of the suicide bombers blew herself up in the courtyard of a policeman’s home, which is located inside the police barracks, and the second triggered her explosives belt between the town hall, the police barracks and the prefecture,” added Kaya, referring to the office of the state representative.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

A local resident said several houses had been burned and wounded children in the police camp had been taken to the local hospital.

Another N’Guigmi inhabitant said “armed Boko Haram” attacked the district of Dileram, “killing civilians and torching homes”.

Some 30,000 people have been killed and two million displaced since Boko Haram launched its armed campaign in northeastern Nigeria in 2009. The fighting has since spilled over to neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Eight people were killed on Thursday in the village of Karidi, in the Diffa region in southeastern Niger, and 14 died in four attacks on Saturday. Fourteen soldiers have been killed since February 16.

The army says it killed “more than 200 terrorists” in the region at the end of last year, as well as 33 others on March 12.