From Bloomberg

Nigeria’s Boko Haram attacked border towns inside neighboring Niger for the first time, as U.S. intelligence officials said the Islamist militants may be overreaching by taking their fight into a fourth country.

As the militant group’s targets expand beyond Nigeria’s borders to include Chad, Cameroon and Niger, the effort to combat the jihadist group is drawing in more countries. Chad’s military has taken the lead in preventing Boko Haram from entering Nigeria’s neighbors, while African Union officials have agreed to create a regional force to fight the group.

Boko Haram remains a lethal force with its avowed aim of creating an Islamic caliphate. The group this week raided a town in northern Cameroon, killing as many as 81 people, after Chadian forces drove the militants out of Nigerian border areas. Chad has deployed its military in Cameroon to help the fight.

The U.S. denounces “in the strongest terms” Boko Haram’s cross-border attacks and will help “in the face of this threat,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement Friday.

“We are responding to requests from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria,” she said. “We continue to provide support to governments in the region, including through intelligence-sharing, and are increasing our support for those efforts.”

Read more at Bloomberg