Security forces in southeast Niger shot dead four suicide bombers from the Boko Haram jihadist group as they prepared to blow themselves up at a fuel depot, local sources said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour BH suicide bombers were killed last night "},"modified":"2019-06-03T15:29:41","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T15:29:41","slug":"security-forces-foil-suicide-bomb-attack-on-niger-fuel-depot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/03\/security-forces-foil-suicide-bomb-attack-on-niger-fuel-depot\/","title":{"rendered":"Security forces foil suicide bomb attack on Niger fuel depot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Security forces in southeast Niger shot dead four suicide bombers from the Boko Haram jihadist group as they prepared to blow themselves up at a fuel depot, local sources said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour BH suicide bombers were killed last night by the FDS (the defence and security forces) at the city of Diffa near the Nigerien Company for Oil Storage,\u201d or SONIDEP, a municipal official told AFP.<\/p>\n
The depot, which stores oil and gas for the region, \u201cwas undoubtedly their target,\u201d an elected official said. \u201cFortunately, they were stopped in time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hours earlier, \u201cTwo suspected Boko Haram elements were arrested as they preparing to carry out an attack, apparently on a (local) church,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplosive belts were found in a search of an address that they gave to the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diffa, a city of around 200,000 people, has borne the brunt of raids launched by the jihadists from their stronghold in northeast Nigeria.<\/p>\n
In mid-April, jihadists attacked the central police barracks and took several people hostage in the home of a policeman.<\/p>\n
Two members of the two security forces and two assailants were killed in an hours-long battle, according to an incomplete toll.<\/p>\n
Last June, six people were killed when three suicide bombers exploded their suicide belts in a coordinated attack.<\/p>\n
An estimated 27,000 people have been killed and two million displaced since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, a campaign that has spilled over to Niger as well as Burkina Faso and Chad.<\/p>\n
In Niger itself, 88 civilians were killed by Boko Haram in March alone, and more than 18,000 villagers forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
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