The suspected mastermind of different attacks by Boko Haram islamist sect in Niger's Diffa region near the Nigerian border has been arrested by Nigerian security forces, local media reported Thursday.

Niger's Anfani private radio station said the suspect going by the name Kaka Bounou, was a trader based in Diffa. He had a title of a captain in Boko Haram, and was behind all the attacks carried out in Diffa.

"He is a habitual offender who had been arrested several times and released, including by the Nigerian judiciary," the same source said.

Elsewhere, security forces in Maine-Soroa town, 80 km west of Diffa, on Thursday managed to halt a suicide bomber who was carrying explosives.

Nigerien forces have continued with the fight against Boko Haram and are still in the Nigerian territory where they have liberated the town of Damasak that had been held by the islamist sect for a long time