DAKAR, Senegal — The Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram on Friday morning struck across Nigeria’s border into Niger for the first time, broadening the regional conflict to a fourth country in West Africa.
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But the extension of the fighting to Niger is a new phase in the war on Boko Haram. Wary of being drawn into the fight, Niger’s government has been careful so far not to provoke the Islamists. Some analysts believe that the Islamists have heavily infiltrated Diffa, a regional capital in the country’s far east.
