Boko Haram strike in Niger.

Abubakar Shekau threatened to attack other African countries and has been true to his word with the Boko Haram insurgents striking in both Cameroon and most recently, Niger.

The attack on the border town of Bosso of Niger was the group’s second on a neighboring country in the past week.

Yacouba Soumana Gaoh, the governor of the Diffa region around Bosso, claimed that the Islamists had been successfully pushed back after clashing with Nigerian troops.

Mr Gaoh said the number of casualties was unknown but he believed no civilians were harmed during the fighting.

One resident is reported to have asserted “We can hear the sound of weapons all around the town, often very near our windows.

“There is the noise of heavy weapons and of light arms, making our houses shake.”

Bosso lies just across the border from Nigeria’s Borno state, one of the areas worst affected by Islamist violence.

The town is home to thousands of Nigerian refugees who have fled Boko Haram.