BOKO HARAM extremists from Nigeria attacked a border town in neighbouring Niger yesterday, the second foreign country attacked by the group in several days.

Witness Abba Hassan said Boko Haram fighters had fought an hour-long battle with soldiers before withdrawing.

“Niger and Chadian planes are conducting surveillance at the moment in town and troops on the ground are combing through the streets,” he added.

As the violence escalated, regional leaders met for a second day in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde to finalise plans for a co-ordinated military response to the Islamist organisation blamed for killing 10,000 people over the past year.

Cameroonian officials said that Boko Haram attacks on the town of Fotokol on Wednesday and Thursday had left nearly 100 people dead and 500 others wounded.

Thousands of refugees have already fled to the Nigerien region where the violence took place.