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The Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has attacked a town in Niger for the first time, witnesses say.

Niger's government said it killed more than 100 of the group's fighters as it repulsed the attack on the border town of Bosso.

The group reportedly killed at least 70 people in an attack on the town of Fotokol in Cameroon on Wednesday.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left thousands dead and displaced more than a million over the past six years.

The militants control a large stretch of land in north-eastern Nigeria.

Its neighbours have promised to send troops to help it fight the militants, who are now attacking those countries.

On Friday, US intelligence officials said that they believed Boko Haram had up to 6,0