The militant group Boko Haram launched a major attack, targeting a large city near the border with Nigeria. The army in Niger responded to it.

A senior Deva local government official said that "Boko Haram elements launched an attack on Deva from the town of Bagara, south of the city" near the border with Nigeria, in which heavy weapons were used. , between 2 and 3 p.m. GMT.

The authorities in Niger have not disclosed any material or human losses that may have resulted from the attack.

The official added that "the armed and security forces responded with heavy fire, including heavy weapons."

Another local government source confirmed the attack, but did not explain the circumstances, but explained that the situation was "now under control," and that calm had returned to the city of 200,000 people.

"We have no outcome yet," the official added, noting that the fighting had caused panic among the population.

It should be noted that since 2015, the city of Deva has been the target of several attacks by Boko Haram and ISIS fighters, resulting in many deaths.

In early May 2020, heavy fighting broke out between the army and extremist militants in the vicinity of the border bridge of Doci, located south of Deva, which links Niger and Nigeria.

This border post is located near the Nigerian town of Damask, about 30 kilometres south of Deva.

In October 2014, Boko Haram captured Damask after heavy fighting with the Nigerian army before being destroyed by a joint force of the armies of Chad and Niger.

In mid - April, ISIS carried out a series of attacks on the city of Damasak, in "unprecedented" violence by local sources, aimed at controlling this strategic axis.

Continued attacks by extremist groups in Niger have killed hundreds since 2010 and displaced hundreds of thousands of their homes, some 300,000 displaced persons and refugees in Diva and 160,000 in the west, near Mali and Burkina Faso.

It is reported that ISIS has defected from Boko Haram and sold ISIS in Iraq, and is still active in Africa, especially in the Sahel region.