Niger's army says it foiled attack planned by Boko Haram extremists from neighboring Nigeria

NIAMEY, Niger – The head of Niger's army says the country has foiled an attack that was being planned by radical Islamic militants who are based in neighboring Nigeria.

Gen. Seini Garba said Monday that an untold number of militants had been arrested and killed in the town of Diffa in the country's far east. He said that Niger had avoided "a bloodbath being planned by this terrorist organization."

Garba did not say when the raid took place but also credited Niger's soldiers with destroying a large weapons cache during the operation.

Boko Haram is based in northeastern Nigeria and has carried out scores of deadly attacks in the country, killing thousands of people during its four-year insurgency. The extremist group is also believed to have a presence in Niger, Cameroon and Chad.