Boko Haram affected areas

The United Nations refugee agency reports tens of thousands of refugees and displaced people in NigerХs Diffa region are suffering immense hardships as violent attacks by Boko Haram increase in frequency and intensity. According to the UN refugee agency, last month 88 civilians in NigerХs border areas were killed by Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based Islamist militant group. The spike in violence, it says, has forced more than 18,000 people to flee their homes, many for the second or third time.

At least 10,000 Nigerians returned to a flashpoint town on Wednesday after fleeing into Cameroon to escape repeated attacks over the past few months, a UN humanitarian report said.

Nigeria's government now acknowledges an extremist resurgence, this time by a Boko Haram offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, the IS group's largest presence outside the Middle East, estimated to have more than 3,000 fighters.

An upsurge in violent attacks in crisis-riven north-east Nigeria has displaced nearly 60,000 people in the last three months, the UN migration agency, IOM, said on Tuesday. Armed extremists, notably Boko Haram militants, have contributed to a decade-long humanitarian crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states, that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region.

Armed group Boko Haram killed at least 60 people when it renewed its attack on the northeast Nigerian town of Rann on Monday, rights group Amnesty International has said.

More than 30,000 people fled the Nigerian town of Rann over the weekend amid fears of renewed attacks by the Boko Haram armed group, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The United Nations voiced alarm on Wednesday at the uprooting of more than 30,000 Nigerians forced to flee the protracted war against Islamist insurgents in the country's northeast.

Nigerian soldiers raided the offices of the countryХs Daily Trust newspaper and arrested two of its journalists following an article about the militaryХs fight against Islamist militants in the northeast, the newspaper said on Sunday. Й An uptick in attacks by Islamist militants in recent months has made security a key campaign issue ahead of the Feb. 16 presidential election in which Muhammadu Buhari will seek a second term.

Troops and air strikes have killed more than 280 Boko Haram militants since the Niger government started an operation against the group last week, the defence ministry said.

Fighters from the IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) overran the posts in Borno state on Tuesday Й The Boko Haram faction has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and Yobe states, raiding bases and killing dozens of troops.