Some 2,000 troops from regional military powerhouse Chad headed to neighbouring Niger today, where Boko Haram insurgents inflicted heavy losses in the town of Bosso last week, a military source said.
The "heavily armed" soldiers will "search everywhere for Boko Haram," added the source. The UN says some 50,000 people have fled Bosso after the attacks in Niger's troubled southeast.
The attacks began Friday against a military post in Bosso in Niger's Diffa region, killing 26 soldiers including two from neighbouring Nigeria.
A total of 55 insurgents from the Nigeria-based Islamist group were killed and "many" injured, according to authorities.
"An estimated 50,000 people or so fled," UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters today.
