Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has reoccupied the town of Bosso in southeastern Niger on Sunday night after clashes with soldiers from Niger and Nigeria.
According to the Nigerien government, Nigerien troops retook Bosso by Saturday morning, but Bosso’s mayor, Mamadou Bako, said they lost control over it on Sunday night.
The Islamist group first took the town near the Nigerian border on Friday in an attack in which 30 soldiers from Niger and two from Nigeria were killed.
Nigerien troops retook Bosso by Saturday morning, the defense ministry said. But Bosso Mayor Mamadou Bako said they lost control again on Sunday night and that the town remained under Boko Haram’s control.
A military source in Diffa, about 100 km (60 miles) west of Bosso, confirmed the takeover.
Bosso is part of the Diffa region near Lake Chad, where Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger meet and where many refugees have sought shelter from Boko Haram violence over the years.