Chadian Troops Bombs Regrouping Boko Haram Militants

The Chadian army on Sunday bombed Boko Haram positions, killing several dozen of militants near a village on the border with Niger, Reuters reports.

Two Chadian helicopters destroyed several vehicles and motorcycles carrying fighters in the Nigerian village of Djaboullam, which lies east across the border from the Niger town of Diffa, a Niger officer said.

"Niger and Chad had received intelligence that a group of Boko Haram fighters had gathered in the border village," after they've been chased from other towns by the Nigerian army, the officer said.

Militants were also gathering in other border towns from where they routinely launch mortar rounds into Niger, he said.

"We know they are massing in Malam Fatori, waiting for us to come," he said, referring to another northeast Nigerian town about three kilometers (2 miles) from Bosso, the nearest town across the border in Niger.

Niger and Chadian soldiers have been fighting the Islamist militants in a joint mission with Nigeria and Cameroon since March 2, in a bid to end Boko Haram's six-year insurgency in northern Nigeria which is threatening regional stability.