Diggers join war against Boko Haram terrorists

AUSTRALIAN troops have been training African soldiers to fight Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group responsible for terror acts in Nigeria.

Australian special forces took part in a three-week training stint in Niger, US military said.

The training exercises, dubbed Flintlock, took place in late February at a military camp at Diffa, a town in Niger’s southeast near the border with Nigeria and in a region under threat from the terrorist group.

Boko Haram fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns last month attacked a village about 30km from Diffa.

Niger troops fought back, killing 57 militants. In total 15 soldiers and two civilians were also wounded in the battle.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram jihadists were behind the killing of six farmers who were shot while working on their land near the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri.

Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a group preparing fields for the rainy season outside the village of Amrawa, 16km from the Borno State capital, on Saturday, reports said.