According to our source, Security forces in southeast Niger shot dead four suicide bombers from the Boko Haram jihadist group as they prepared to blow themselves up at a fuel depot .

A municipal official  had said, “Four Boko Haram suicide bombers were killed last night by the FDS, the defence and security forces at the city of Diffa , which is close to SONIDEP ,the Nigerien Company for Oil Storage.”

An elected official said, the depot, which stores oil and gas for the region, “was undoubtedly their target but “Fortunately, they were stopped in time.”

Hours earlier, “Two suspected Boko Haram elements were arrested as they preparing to carry out an attack, apparently on a local church,” the source said.

“In a search of an address that they gave to the police , Explosive belts were found .

Diffa, a city of around 200,000 people, has borne the brunt of raids launched by the jihadists from their stronghold in northeast Nigeria.

In mid-April, jihadists attacked the central police barracks and took several people hostage in the home of a policeman.

According to an incomplete toll, Two members of the two security forces and two assailants were killed in an hours-long battle.

Last June, six people were killed when three suicide bombers exploded their suicide belts in a coordinated attack.

Since the launch of Boko Haram insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, An estimation of 27,000 people have been killed and two million displaced , a campaign that has spilled over to Niger as well as Burkina Faso and Chad.

In March alone , 88 civilians were killed by Boko Haram in Niger and more than 18,000 villagers forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.