The Sahel state of Niger, which has been battling a bloody jihadist insurgency, said Wednesday around 75 Boko Haram combatants had been killed in the southeast and in neighbouring Nigeria.

Twenty-five "terrorists" were killed on Monday south of Diffa, the main city in southeast Niger, while "about 50... were neutralised" the same day on Nigerian soil in the Lake Chad region, in two operations by a regional anti-jihadist force, the defence ministry said in a statement.