AFP / Issouf Sanogo (file photo) | A patrol vehicle of the army of Niger drives along a street in the town of Diffa, close to the Niger-Nigerian border on May 23, 2015

Boko Haram militants attacked a village in Niger’s southern border area of Diffa on Thursday, killing 15 people, two security sources said.

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The guerrillas arrived in the village of Gogone on foot and opened fire indiscriminately on residents, the sources said, adding that Niger troops had pursued them.

Niger’s Diffa region has suffered dozens of cross-border strikes this year by the Islamist militant group whose stronghold in northeast Nigeria lies just a few kilometres away.

A state of emergency has been declared there in a bid to boost security. But the attackers often manage to flee across the River Komadougou, marking the border with Nigeria.

Central African leaders in regional bloc CEEAC said on Wednesday at a summit that they were raising 50 billion CFA Francs ($80 million) to help Nigeria’s neighbours fight the Islamist militant group.

An 8,700-strong regional task force with troops from Chad, Niger, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon is operational but has yet to begin joint military strikes against the group.

(REUTERS)

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