Niger Forces Claim To Have Killed 260 Boko Haram Militants Since Feb. 6

Niger Forces Claim To Have Killed 260 Boko Haram Militants Since Feb. 6
President of Niger's Parliament Amadou Salifu (L) shakes hands with an army official during a parliament session in Niamey on February 9, 2015. Niger's parliament voted unanimously to send troops to Nigeria to join a regional fight against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, lawmakers said. Nigeria and its neighbours -- Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin -- agreed on February 7, 2015 to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians for a wider, African Union-backed force against Boko Haram. AFP PHOTO / BOUREIMA HAMA (Photo credit should read BOUREIMA HAMA/AFP/Getty Images)
President of Niger's Parliament Amadou Salifu (L) shakes hands with an army official during a parliament session in Niamey on February 9, 2015. Niger's parliament voted unanimously to send troops to Nigeria to join a regional fight against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, lawmakers said. Nigeria and its neighbours -- Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin -- agreed on February 7, 2015 to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians for a wider, African Union-backed force against Boko Haram. AFP PHOTO / BOUREIMA HAMA (Photo credit should read BOUREIMA HAMA/AFP/Getty Images)

NIAMEY, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Security forces in Niger have killed 260 Boko Haram militants since the group began cross-border attacks on Niger's southeastern Diffa region on Feb. 6, a spokesman for the armed forces said on Thursday.

Colonel Moustapha Michel Ledru said a number of fighters had been arrested and some weapons seized, without giving details.

Boko Haram has launched a series of attacks but Ledru said the situation was under control. "We have taken the steps necessary to guarantee the peace and security of the population. We call on people not to panic," he said. (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalaki; Writing by David Lewis; editing by John Stonestreet)

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