First Battle of Bosso (2015)

Battle of Bosso
Part of Boko Haram insurgency

Nigerien soldiers in Diffa, March 2015
DateFebruary 6, 2015
Location
Bosso and Diffa, Diffa Region, Niger
Result

Nigerien-Chadian victory

  • Boko Haram fighters repelled
Belligerents
Niger
Chad		 Boko Haram
Commanders and leaders
Abdoul Kadri Amadou
Daoud Yaya  (WIA)		 Unknown
Strength
4,000
2,500		 Several hundred
Casualties and losses
8 killed, 15 injured
8 killed		 292 killed (per Niger)
400+ killed (per Chad)
1 civilian killed

On February 6, 2015, Boko Haram militants attacked the town of Bosso, Niger, the first attack by Boko Haram in Niger. Hundreds of militants were killed by the defending Chadian and Nigerien soldiers.

Background

Boko Haram emerged in 2009 as a jihadist social and political movement in a failed rebellion in northeast Nigeria.[1] Throughout the following years, Abubakar Shekau unified militant Islamist groups in the region and continued to foment the rebellion against the Nigerian government, conducting terrorist attacks and bombings in cities and communities across the region.[2]

In February 2015, fighting was ongoing south of Lake Chad between Chadian and Cameroonian troops in Fotokol and Boko Haram militants in Gamboru Ngala.[3] Meanwhile, the Nigerian army was preparing a troop deployment to the Nigeria-Niger border west of Lake Chad. About 4,000 Nigerien soldiers were deployed to Bosso, on the Nigerien side of border facing the Nigerian town of Malam Fatori, under Boko Haram control since November 2014.[4][3] French troops participating in Operation Barkhane also established a liaison in Diffa with 15 to 20 men, supplying the Nigerien and Chadian troops with fuel and ammunition.[5]

Battle

Accounts by locals differ as to when the attack officially started; some said a fighter jet flew over and bombed Boko Haram positions in Malam Fatori, leading Boko Haram to retaliate. Others said that Boko Haram's attack was unprovoked.[6]

On February 6, several hundred jihadists crossed the Komadougou Yobe river separating Malam Fatori and Bosso, assaulting Nigerien army forces for the first time.[7] Sleeper cells that had infiltrated into the refugee camp in Bosso also launched an attack.[6] Fighting began around 9am, and Nigerien and Chadian forces quickly gained the upper hand. Boko Haram militants stormed civilian houses in Bosso.[6] Boko Haram fighters were repelled across the river by the afternoon. The fighters that retreated were followed by sweep operations in the Gangara Forest.[8]

Rene Carayol, a journalist with Jeune Afrique described the militants as "bewitched", "possessed", and "bloodthirsty", and suggested the attackers were locals that had been abducted or on drugs. Many were armed with only knives, arrows, and stones.[9] Jean-Louis Le Touzet from Libération corroborated Carayol's description, saying that most of the fighters were under-equipped, under 15 years old, malnourished, and covered in dirt. There was one weapon for every three fighters.[10] The inexperienced Nigerien soldiers panicked at the onslaught of fighters; it was the Chadians who massacred them with heavy weapons.[10]

Artillery was also fired by Boko Haram towards Diffa, the capital of Diffa Region and a city bordering the Boko Haram-controlled Nigerian town of Damasak.[7] In response, Nigerien and Chadian troops invaded Damasak and expelled the militants.[7]

Aftermath

A dead Boko Haram fighter in Diffa, March 2015.

Bosso was almost entirely emptied of inhabitants within a week of the attack, many fleeing elsewhere in fear of another Boko Haram attack.[11] On the evening of February 6, Nigerien Minister of Defense Karidjo Mahamadou said that four Nigerien soldiers were killed, 17 wounded, and two were missing. Karidjo also said that 109 Boko Haram fighters were killed, along with one civilian.[12] A Chadian general said that at least 200 decomposing bodies of Boko Haram fighters were visible in the Bosso and Mamouri valleys.[13] Several dozen bodies were visible on the Nigerian side of the river.[7] Later, Nigerien and Chadian troops dug mass graves along the Komadougou Yobe river for the slain fighters in fear of a cholera outbreak.[11] During the burials, Chadian military spokesman Azem Bermandoa said that at least 400 bodies were counted.[14][10] Some were thrown into the river.[10]

The commander of Chadian forces in Bosso, Daoud Yaya, was injured in the battle. A Boko Haram fighter had pretended to be killed before shooting Yaya in the stomach.[15]

In a press release in March, the Nigerien government said that the death toll for all clashes between February 6 and March 8 was 24 Nigeriens killed and 38 injured and 513 Boko Haram fighters, of which 292 were in Bosso.[16] Nigerien General Moussa Salaou Barmou announced in April that eight Nigerien soldiers and 292 Boko Haram fighters were killed in Bosso.[17] Twenty militants were arrested in Niger following the attack.[18] Abdoul Kadri Amadou, who led the Nigerien soldiers in Bosso at the time, said Boko Haram left behind a lot of heavy equipment.[19]

Bosso was attacked again by Boko Haram on February 8, leaving five Chadians injured and ten Boko Haram fighters dead. Sporadic shootouts occurred in the following days between the Chadians and Nigeriens in Bosso and militants in Malam Fatori.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Walker, Andrew (2016-02-04). "Join us or die: the birth of Boko Haram". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  2. ↑ "Nigeria unrest: 'Boko Haram' gunmen kill 44 at mosque". BBC News. 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  3. 1 2 "Boko Haram: l'armée nigérienne se prépare à intervenir au Nigeria". RFI (in French). 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  4. ↑ HAMA, Boureima (2015-02-05). "La guerre contre Boko Haram prend une ampleur régionale". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  5. ↑ "Paris met en place un détachement de liaison militaire au Niger". Challenges (in French). 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  6. 1 2 3 "Retour sur le jour où le Niger est entré en guerre contre Boko Haram". RFI (in French). 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Niger: Boko Haram attaque les villes frontalières de Bosso et Diffa". RFI (in French). 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  8. ↑ "Niger: des cellules dormantes de Boko Haram dans le sud-est". RFI (in French). 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  9. ↑ "Boko Haram, la tactique du boucher". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Le Touzet, Jean-Louis (February 17, 2015). [liberation.fr/planete/2015/02/17/le-niger-desarme-face-a-boko-haram_1204678 "Le Niger désarmé face à Boko Haram"]. Liberation. Retrieved May 18, 2026. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  11. 1 2 "[Boko Haram] Niger: Bosso sous contrôle mais vidé de ses habitants". RFI (in French). 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  12. ↑ "Niger: 109 combattants de Boko Haram, quatre militaires et un civil tués". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  13. ↑ "Niger: des cellules dormantes de Boko Haram dans le sud-est". RFI (in French). 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  14. 1 2 "[Reportage] Niger: Bosso ville fantôme après l'attaque de Boko Haram". RFI (in French). 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  15. ↑ "Boko Haram: le commandant des forces tchadiennes au Niger blessé par balle". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  16. ↑ "Le Niger affirme avoir infligé de lourdes pertes à Boko Haram au Nigeria". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  17. ↑ "Offensive contre Boko Haram - La secte islamiste perd du terrain". parismatch.com (in French). 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  18. ↑ "Vidéo : au Niger, l'armée du Tchad redoute un nouvel assaut de Boko Haram". France 24 (in French). 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  19. ↑ "Bosso, après l'attaque du 06 février dernier : retour au calme sur les rives de la Komadougou". aNiamey.com. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.