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Chad and Niger troops move to attack Boko Haram

Nigerian special forces run past Chadian troops in an hostage rescue exercise at the end of the Flintlock exercise in Mao, Chad, Saturday, March 7, 2015. The U.S. military and its Western partners conduct this training annually and set up plans long before Boko Haram began attacking its neighbors Niger, Chad and Cameroon. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) Nigerian special forces run past Chadian troops in an hostage rescue exercise at the end of the Flintlock exercise in Mao, Chad, Saturday, March 7, 2015. The U.S. military and its Western partners conduct this training annually and set up plans long before Boko Haram began attacking its neighbors Niger, Chad and Cameroon. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

By Associated Press March 9, 2015 1 min read

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) – A Chadian general has confirmed that military forces from Chad and Niger have gone into northeast Nigeria to attack Boko Haram.

Gen. Zakaria Ngobongue told The Associated Press in Chad on Monday that the troop movement marks a second front in northeast Nigeria against the extremist Islamic group. Soldiers opened the first front recently.

A local resident said Monday that hundreds of troops from Chad and Niger had crossed the border into Nigeria. Adam Boukarna, who is from Bosso in southeast Niger, said he watched some 200 military vehicles cross into northeast Nigeria. He said the deployment started Saturday and was followed by loud detonations, signaling heavy combat with Boko Haram.