Boko Haram Kills More than 30 in Attack on Niger Outpost

Niger says hundreds of Boko Haram extremists attacked a military outpost late Friday, killing at least 32 soldiers and wounding nearly 70 others near its southern borders with Nigeria and Chad.

The Niger Defense Ministry said the attackers burned homes and stores near Bosso, before fleeing early Saturday with arms and munitions.

Boko Haram later claimed responsibility, saying 35 soldiers were killed. The Nigeria-based Islamists pledged support for the Islamic State extremist group last year.

The Niger military said it launched a counterattack with air and land forces.  Defense officials quoted by the French news agency said at least 19 attackers were killed.

The region, known as the Lake Chad Basin, has been the target of hundreds of Boko Haram attacks that have killed at least 20,000 people and displace nearly 3 million others since militants launched an insurgency in 2009.

The militant group, seeking to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria, has also struck repeatedly in nearby Cameroon.