The Boko Haram Thread

Nigeria bombs Boko Haram camp near site of student massacre

Nigeria's military has launched air strikes on a Boko Haram camp, killing several Islamists, near a northeastern college campus where insurgents massacred 40 students at the weekend, a spokesman said Thursday.

"We tracked the Boko Haram terrorists to their camp in the forest outside Gujba," military spokesman in Yobe state Lazarus Eli said of the Tuesday operation.

"Fighter jets bombarded the camp while troops launched a ground offensive, which left several terrorists dead," Eli added.

On Sunday, heavily armed Boko Haram gunmen attacked an agricultural college in Gujba, killing 40 students as they slept in their dorms.

Gujba is roughly 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Yobe's capital of Damaturu.

"The whole camp was destroyed in the raid and we are on the trail of fleeing members of the terrorist group," Eli said.

The military has previously issued statements following major Boko Haram attacks, boasting of successes which are often difficult to verify.

Eli said "15 suspected terrorists" have been arrested around Gujba.

The weekend school massacre cast further doubt on the success of an ongoing military campaign, launched in May, which is aimed at crushing the four-year insurgency.

More than 100 people have been killed in a spate of school attacks since June, while dozens of others have been slaughtered in violence across the northeast, Boko Haram's historic stronghold.

The insurgents have said they are fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, but their demands have repeatedly shifted.

According to an estimate made earlier this year, the insurgency has cost more than 3,600 lives, including killings by the security forces. The current figure is likely much higher.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and top oil producer, roughly divided between the mainly Muslim north and a predominately Christian south.


Source : Sapa-AFP /ma
Date : 03 Oct 2013 19:54
 
Nigerian military says 40 Islamist insurgents killed

The Nigerian military has killed 40 Boko Haram insurgents in the Bama, Gwoza and Pulka areas in Borno state, a statement from an army spokesman said Tuesday.

The spokesman, Captain Aliyu Danja, said militants attacked the three areas on Sunday night and the military responded, killing the 40 insurgents. Several others escaped with gunshot wounds, Danja said.

The state of emergency declared in Borno state in May and the suspension of telephone services makes it difficult to verify or get first-hand information from the area.

Reports typically arrive two or three days after events and quote either military statements or eye-witness accounts by people who escaped to other locations.

Insurgent leader Abu Shekau, who had been declared dead by military authorities, recently warned of more attacks on civilian populations.

A resident of Maiduguri told dpa that the Boko Haram now target the Kanuri and Beriberi people of the town who are cooperating with the government to reveal their hideouts.

The resident said the last raid was on Beni Sheik, located less than an hour from Maiduguri. Insurgents were active for than more four hours without hindrances from the joint task force or any other security forces, he said.


Source : Sapa-dpa /gm
Date : 16 Oct 2013 00:53
 
Last edited:
Islamists in deadly raid on Nigerian Police: Official

Suspected Boko Haram Islamists attacked police in the northeast Nigerian city of Damaturu, prompting a fierce gunfight with troops, a police officer and residents said Friday.

The gunmen late Thursday stormed the city in coordinated raids, burning at least four police buildings and leaving an unspecified number of casualties, said a senior police officer, who requested anonymity.

"They invaded the city in large numbers in vehicles and on foot from different directions and launched coordinated attacks on police facilities with guns and explosives and engaged soldiers and policemen in a fierce gunfire exchange that continued deep into the night," he said.

"They have succeeded in burning down the police area command, the CID (criminal investigation department), the mobile (police) base and the 'C' Division police station, all located along Gujba Road on the outskirts of the city," he added.

The insurgents started by attacking a military checkpoint outside the city, but were repelled by troop reinforcements, then they attacked police in Damaturu, the source added.

"There are indeed casualties, including a number of the insurgents, but it is difficult to say how many they are", he said.

A resident, Haruna Sadi, said the attacks started around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and continued late into the night, forcing residents to stay indoors.

"We didn't sleep last night due to fright and the deafening gun sounds and explosions coming from all over the city, which was apparently under siege from Boko Haram gunmen," Sadi said.

"Everybody is still indoors because of a radio announcement of a 24-hour curfew by the military who request everyone to stay at home as they conduct operations against the gunmen," he said.

Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

Violence by the group is estimated to have cost more than 3,600 lives, including killings by the security forces.

Damaturu, capital of Yobe state, has witnessed several deadly attacks by suspected Boko Haram members.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kn
Date : 25 Oct 2013 15:36
 
Nigeria says killed 95 Boko Haram fighters

Nigeria's army said Friday it had killed 95 suspected Boko Haram fighters in raids in the country's northeast, as gunmen from the Islamist group battled security forces in a neighbouring area.

The army, which is battling to crush a four-year Islamist uprising in Nigeria, said it deployed bombs and ground troops to destroy insurgent camps in Borno on Thursday.

Army spokesman Mohammed Dole said that "74 suspected militants" were killed in the assault outside the Borno capital Maiduguri, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago.

The operation followed an assault Monday on Boko Haram camps in another part of Borno, which the military said left 37 Islamists dead.

In a separate outbreak of violence, suspected Islamist fighters stormed the city of Damaturu in coordinated raids on Thursday, burning at least four police buildings, said a senior police officer who requested anonymity.

Army spokesman General Ibrahim Attahiru said in a statement published late Friday that 70 suspected Islamists were killed in Borno state and others fled towards Damaturu where 25 of them were killed by the army.

"The insurgents fleeing from the earlier clashes .. regrouped to carry out attacks on Damaturu," said the statement. "Our command post ... and other sites around Damaturu were attacked and ... 25 insurgents were killed."

The army did not mention any possible civilian casualties.

The officer said there were casualties from the attack, which will be seen as a setback in the campaign to end the insurgency.

The military had claimed an offensive launched more than four months ago had put Boko Haram on the defensive and left it incapable of attacking major urban centres like Damaturu.

Figures released earlier this year said the conflict had cost more than 3,600 lives, including killings by the security forces. The current toll is certainly much higher.

Damaturu is the capital of Yobe state, another area repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram in an insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

"They invaded the city in large numbers in vehicles and on foot from different directions," the officer said.

They then opened fire "on police facilities with guns and explosives and engaged soldiers and policemen in a fierce gunfire exchange that continued deep into the night," he added.

The officer said the insurgents torched the area police command and at least three other police facilities.

"There are indeed casualties, including a number of the insurgents, but it is difficult to say how many they are", he said.

A resident, Haruna Sadi, said the attacks started around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and continued late into the night, forcing residents to stay indoors.

"We didn't sleep last night due to fright and the deafening gun sounds and explosions coming from all over the city," Sadi said.

"Everybody is still indoors because of a radio announcement of a 24-hour curfew by the military," he added.

Boko Haram, thought to be a fragmented group, with a murky leadership structure, has attacked churches, mosques, the security forces and schools across northern and central Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and top oil producer.

The Islamists have killed hundreds of people across the northeast since late June, including scores of students.

Last month, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the country's top military leaders to redouble their efforts following a spate of brutal attacks on civilians.

Jonathan imposed a state of emergency across the northeast in mid-May when the offensive was launched.

The phone network was switched off in the region when the emergency measures were declared. Mobile service remains down in Borno, making the military's accounts of fighting difficult to check with local leaders and residents.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mm
Date : 26 Oct 2013 02:49
 
35 bodies in 'military uniform' at Nigeria Morgue after Islamist raid

Thirty-five bodies in military uniform have been brought to a morgue in Nigeria's restive northeast after a coordinated assault by Boko Haram targeting the security forces, a hospital source told AFP Monday.

The attack late Thursday in the Yobe state capital of Damaturu was the first raid in a major urban centre in several weeks by the insurgent group waging a four-year Islamist uprising.

Police and residents said large numbers of Boko Haram fighters, some in vehicles and some on foot, stormed Damaturu after dark.

Armed with guns and explosives, they attacked and torched four police buildings, sparking a fierce, hours-long gun battle with the security forces.

"We have received lots of bodies in the last three days from the attacks. I counted 35 bodies in military uniform," said a senior official at the Damaturu Specialist Hospital, who requested anonymity.

An army officer based in the central city of Jos said 20 soldiers had been admitted at a hospital there, suffering from "gunshot wounds sustained in the battle against Boko Haram in Damaturu."

"They were brought here for security reasons and better medical facilities," said the officer, who also asked his name be withheld.

The military rarely discusses troop fatalities following Islamist attacks and local officials who disclose such details have faced pressure to keep quiet.

Contacted by AFP on Monday, Yobe state military spokesman Lazarus Eli did not deny reports that dozens of soldiers were killed during the clash.

"We do not have any data on the death toll," Lazarus said.

Boko Haram has repeatedly worn military uniforms as a disguise during attacks and it was not yet clear if the corpses were those of insurgents or troops.

The day after the attack, witnesses and local officials did not say the insurgents who staged it were disguised in uniforms.

Nigeria's sweeping offensive against Boko Haram has entered its fifth month and the military has described the group as being in disarray and no longer capable of attacking major population centres.

But the success of the operation remains unclear and the attack in Damaturu, apparently carried out by a significant number of insurgents in a heavily fortified city, has cast further doubt the effectiveness of the military offensive.

There are however signs that Boko Haram has been pushed back into the northeast, its historic stronghold, after carrying out attacks across the wider north through much of 2011 and 2012.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency across the northeast in mid-May and vowed to permanently end the uprising. Jonathan must decide whether to extend the emergency measures when the six-month mandate expires next month.

The conflict has killed thousands since 2009.

Boko Haram has attacked Christians, Muslims, students, politicians and a range of other groups seen as opposed to the creation of a state governed by strict Islamic law.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and top oil producer, where the northern half is mostly Muslim and the more prosperous south is predominately Christian.


Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 28 Oct 2013 13:36
 
CATALOGUE OF ATTACKS BLAMED ON NIGERIA'S BOKO HARAM

Following are the main attacks linked to the Boko Haram group in Nigeria since the extremist Islamists resumed major operations in 2011 after going underground for more than a year.

Violence by the group, which is demanding the creation of an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, has left several thousand dead in the north and centre of the country since 2009.

Boko Haram, which was created 10 years ago, led a deadly insurrection in 2009 in the northeastern city of Maiduguri that was crushed by the army, causing more than 800 deaths in just a few days.

- November 4, 2011: A series of attacks on police targets and churches in the northeastern city of Damaturu claimed by the sect kills at least 150 people.

- January 20, 2012: At least 185 people are killed in the northern city of Kano following coordinated bombings and gun battles, claimed by Boko Haram.

- April 19, 2013: Fierce fighting between troops and suspected Islamists in the remote northeastern town of Baga kills 187 people while 77 others are injured.

- September 17, 2013: An attack by Boko Haram Islamists disguised in military uniforms in the northeastern Benisheik area in Borno state kills at least 142 people.

- February 15, 2014: An attack blamed on the sect leaves more than 100 people dead in the mostly Christian village of Izghe in Borno.

- April 14, 2014: Gunmen kidnap 276 female high school students in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. Although 53 managed to escape, 223 are still being held.

The head of Boko Haram says he will sell them as "slaves" or marry them by force. Amid international outrage, Britain, France, Israel and the United States send experts and material assets to try and find the girls.

- April 14, 2014: A blast at a bus station packed with morning commuters at Nyanya, on the southern outskirts of Abuja, kills at least 75 people, in the most deadly attack to date on the capital. Most previous attacks have taken place in the group's stronghold in the northeast.

- May 5, 2014: At least 300 people are killed in an attack at Gamboru Ngala, a town near the border with Cameroun that is totally destroyed, local sources say.

- May 20, 2014: At least 118 dead and 56 wounded in two attacks on a market in Jos, central Nigeria. The regional governor blames Boko Haram.

In two days, almost 150 people are killed throughout the country, and a state of emergency is declared for three northeastern states.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 22 May 2014 12:13
 
US SAYS UN APPROVES SANCTIONS ON BOKO HARAM
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

The U.N. Security Council officially declared Boko Haram a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida on Thursday and imposed sanctions against the Islamist extremists who have carried out a wave of deadly attacks and the recent abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power welcomed the council's action, calling it "an important step in support of the government of Nigeria's efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities."

Nigeria, which is serving a two-year term on the council, asked the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaida to add Boko Haram to the list of al-Qaida-linked organizations subject to an arms embargo and asset freeze.

The 14 other council members had until 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Thursday to object and none did. The group was then added to the U.N. sanctions list under the name Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, with Boko Haram as an alias.

Quinlan said there's "very clear evidence" that Boko Haram members have trained with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, particularly in developing improvised explosive devices - "one of the main weapons of modern-day terrorism and particularly al-Qaida." There is also evidence that a significant number of Boko Haram members have fought alongside al-Qaida affiliates in Mali, he said.

Quinlan said Boko Haram's current leader, Abubakar Shekau, also made "very, very strong statements of ... terrorist solidarity with al-Qaida in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia" and other places in November 2012.

Before Boko Haram's addition, the al-Qaida sanctions list included 62 entities and groups, and 213 individuals who are also subject to travel bans.

Quinlan said it's hard to say what the practical impact of sanctions against Boko Haram will be. One possible problem in tracking their finances, he said, is that large parts of the group work in the jungle and probably use cash rather than "substantial or sophisticated financial arrangements for banking - but you never know."

He urged all 193 U.N. member states to focus on Boko Haram as a violent al-Qaida related group, ensure that it is included in any national terrorist lists, and check their own country's financial and arms dealings to ensure that the organization isn't getting money or weapons.

Nigeria's U.N. Ambassador U. Joy Ogwu said Wednesday "the important thing is to attack the problem, and that is terrorism."

Boko Haram's 5-year-old Islamic uprising has claimed the lives of thousands of Muslims and Christians, including more than 1,500 people killed in attacks so far this year.

The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," has tried to root out Western influence by targeting schools, churches, mosques, government buildings and security forces. The homegrown terror group was largely contained to the northern part of Nigeria before expanding its reach with the help of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the terrorist network's affiliate in West Africa.

According to the sanctions committee, Boko Haram is responsible for attacks and kidnappings in Nigeria and Cameroon and has also been active in Chad and Niger.

At a summit in Paris on Saturday aimed at hammering out a plan to rescue the 276 girls, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Boko Haram was acting "clearly as an al-Qaida operation." He only reluctantly accepted outside help after years of insisting that Boko Haram was a local problem.

French President Francois Hollande told the summit that Boko Haram is armed with weapons that came from Libya following the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, and the training took place in Mali before the ouster of its al-Qaida linked Islamist leaders. As for the money, Hollande said its origins were murky.


Source : Sapa-AP /mjs
Date : 23 May 2014 02:45
 
Sad to see such scum using Islam which is a peaceful religion as an excuse for their terrorism.
 
TOP NIGERIAN ISLAMIC CLERIC CALLS FOR UNITY AGAINST BOKO HARAM

The leader of Nigeria's Muslims on Sunday called for followers of the faith to unite against Boko Haram extremists, pledging the government full support to ensure their defeat.

But the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, also said the government should address issues of inequality towards Muslims, which have been seen as factors in fuelling the five-year insurgency.

"Terrorism has no place in Islam," he told a congregation, including Nigeria's Vice-President Namadi Sambo, clerics and traditional rulers, at the National Mosque in the capital, Abuja.

"We must rise up, as always, with one voice to condemn all acts of terrorism, condemn those terrorists wherever they are and try our possible best as Muslims to ensure peace reigns in our community."

The Sultan, who is president of Nigeria's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, has come under pressure to speak out against Boko Haram, who have killed thousands in their quest for an Islamic state in the north.

In his first public comments since the militants kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the remote northeastern town of Chibok last month, he said Muslims were disturbed by the bloodshed.

"We are committed to helping the government at all levels to bring peace in Nigeria. Whatever we can do, as long as it is not against Islam, we are ready to do it 100 percent," he added.

"We have to make it very clear... that the situation in the country is very serious. You are fighting enemies with no boundary. Terrorists are everywhere. They are among us but we don't know them."

Abubakar said the situation was worse than during Nigeria's brutal civil war from 1967 to 1970 because of the shadowy nature of Boko Haram's fighters and their guerrilla campaign.

"In this case, you don't know the enemy. The person sitting next to you might be one of those terrorists. You don't know," he said.

"It is a very serious situation and we have to close ranks as Muslims, we have to close ranks as Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic or political divide, and not play politics with insecurity."

Nigeria's north is majority Muslim and is poorer than the oil- and gas-rich, largely Christian south.

Years of social and economic blight have been seen as a recruiting tool for marginalised and disaffected young men to Boko Haram's cause.

The Sultan said addressing inequality would help tackle the problem.

"Muslims want and also demand to be treated with equality, with justice, with fairness and, Inshallah (god willing), things will turn around," he added.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 25 May 2014 13:23
 
'TIME RUNNING OUT' FOR NIGERIA OVER BOKO HARAM THREAT: GOVERNOR

by Aminu Abubakar

Nigeria faces a race against time to tackle its worsening security situation, which has spread in scale and scope due to a lack of political leadership, an influential governor told AFP.

Kano state governor Rabiu K****waso said the country was unprepared for the level of violence from Boko Haram Islamists.

"Everyone is tired of our situation now because nobody is safe in this country," K****waso, a defence minister under former president Olusegun Obasanjo, said on Tuesday.

"Time is running out. Something has to be done, especially in the northeastern part of this country."

K****waso is a leading figure in the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and is seen as a potential presidential candidate in next year's elections.

He was one of a number of governors from the mainly Muslim north to abandon their ties to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party of President Goodluck Jonathan last year, in part due to the government's perceived indifference to the north.

K****waso said the insurgency was fuelled by social and economic inequalities in the region compared to the richer, oil-producing south.

He said Jonathan, a Christian from southern Bayelsa state, had failed to heed advice and address the problems.

"There is a very strong correlation between poverty, unemployment and illiteracy on the one hand and of course the issue of insurgency or insecurity on the other," he said.

"A very poor man who is looking for something to eat can easily be persuaded by the insurgents to be recruited. So, also, the unemployed and the illiterate. And that is exactly what is happening.

"The president has been warned by many people in and outside the country, including (former US) secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

"I'm sure there are many people that told him that long before now but he didn't take the advice and now we are reaping the consequences."

K****waso said he welcomed the help of "friendly countries" in the search for more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters last month.

But he questioned why Nigeria was no longer able to tackle the situation on its own, given the military's history of involvement in peace-keeping operations overseas.

"Under normal circumstances, Nigeria should be strong enough to defend itself. We don't have to ask our friends -- the US, UK and so on -- to come and help us.

"I have to say that it is very disappointing today that we have to ask some countries to come and help us because as at the time I left office as the minister of defence, we had the capacity to protect every square metre of this country.

"I don't know what went wrong but this is where we have found ourselves. We have to look for support from elsewhere and that is what those in the saddle of leadership are looking for," he said.

K****waso said the five-year insurgency had left everyone a target, from ordinary civilians to the police, military, government and traditional rulers.

His own father narrowly escaped injury after gunmen attacked a mosque in his village in January, killing three worshippers.

The range of people attacked put paid to claims that politicians in the north were stoking the insurgency as a way of destabilising the government in Abuja, he added.

"Every class is a victim and we hope the government works as tirelessly as possible to end this state of insecurity we are now facing."


Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 28 May 2014 15:40
 
IN CAMEROON, BOKO HARAM TURN TOURIST HOTSPOT INTO A GHOST TOWN

With a famous nature reserve, elephant safaris, and a reputation as a peaceful haven, the small town of Waza in the far north of Cameroon used to buzz with tourists.

Today, it is like a ghost town. The walls of the hotels are crumbling and guest bedrooms remain stubbornly empty. By early evening, one local official says, the streets are deserted.

Located just a few kilometres from the border with Nigeria, Waza has been gripped by "general panic" since an attack by suspected Boko Haram Islamists who kidnapped ten Chinese in mid-May, said the secretary-general of the town, Tandjo.

The security forces searching for them believe they were quickly taken back over the border, to the northeastern region of Nigeria that has become Boko Haram's stronghold.

It was the latest in a series of incursions into northern Cameroon by the group, who officials say take advantage of a porous border to evade detection.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", has killed thousands since 2009 in its fight to establish an Islamic state in the north of Nigeria.

As well as the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls, it has burnt down entire villages and launched deadly gun attacks, and the violence has not been contained by the border.

Just last week, three soldiers were wounded after coming under attack by Boko Haram Islamists in northern Cameroon.

Cameroon's President Paul Biya has declared "war on Boko Haram", and is sending military reinforcements to the region to try and combat the group. Some 1,000 troops are expected to start arriving Monday.

The soldiers will be welcome in places like Waza, but they may not be enough to rescue the town's crumbling tourist industry.

It was on the night of May 16 that suspected Boko Haram gunmen targeted Waza, killing a Cameroonian soldier before abducting ten Chinese road workers from their camp.

"The night of the attack, the town was shaking with all the gunfire," said a 20-year-old Cameroonian who worked with the Chinese and did not want to give his name.

A few weeks on, tensions are still high. Standing guard at the entrance to the camp, a member of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, an elite unit with the Cameroon army, shouts at the driver of a motorbike headed his way.

"Go back!", he shouts, his arm hovering over the trigger of his gun.

"You should get out of here," another soldier tells AFP. "We are in a war situation."

Not far away, two soldiers patrol in front of the construction site where machinery has stood still since the hostages were taken.

Some 22 people have been killed by the Cameroonian army in the aftermath, their bodies, local officials say, also smuggled back over the border by their accomplices.

Tandjo says the town's residents are terrified of another attack.

"People are traumatised," he says. "They knew about Boko Haram, but they had never witnessed one of their attacks."

"From 7pm, people go home and do not leave again," he says.

Most officials have moved their families to safer areas. One had a heart attack after a bullet tore through his courtyard, says Tandjo.

"There is fear here. We are afraid that there will be another attack", said the young road worker, one of the few people from the town who is happy to talk about what happened.

He has not worked since the raid, and today, sits under a tree, hoping for a change of fortune.

During the night, no one is allowed to ride around by motorbike -- Boko Haram's preferred method of transport -- in the entire north-east region of Cameroon.

For a once-buzzing tourist town, the change is devastating.

Andre Ndjidda, who works in the Waza National Park, one of the most well-known in Cameroon, says hardly any foreign visitors have ventured there in months, after a series of kidnappings in the far north region.

The trouble in this part of the country, which once had a reputation for tranquility, started in 2013, when Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the priest Georges Vandenbeusch and the Moulin-Fournier family from France.

They were later released, but their kidnapping made headlines around the world.

"The fate of the park was already decided," said Ndjidda, of those kidnappings. "(But) The abduction of the Chinese workers sealed the fate for the town."


Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 02 Jun 2014 11:39
 
NIGERIA'S ARMY KILLS 50 BOKO HARAM MEMBERS

Nigeria's army killed 50 members of Islamist extremist sect Boko Haram in northern Borno State, the Defence Ministry said Monday. The insurgents were killed during an ambush near the village of Bilta at the weekend, according to spokesman Chris Olukolade. "The terrorists, who were on their way to attack selected communities, were ambushed by troops along Bilta, Borno State, on receiving an intelligence report of the terrorists' intention," said Olukolade. Soldiers also confiscated 30 rifles, 36 hand grenades, seven machine guns, 11 rocket-propelled grenades, four vehicles and more than 3,500 rounds of ammunition. Four soldiers were wounded during the operation, according to Olukolade. Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sinful," has killed more than 1,500 people in northern Nigeria since January. The group abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from their dormitory in Chibok, on April 14. More than seven weeks after the kidnappings, there is no trace of the girls' whereabouts.


Source : Sapa-dpa /lk
Date : 09 Jun 2014 17:43
 
BOKO HARAM'S REACH MAY GROW: ANALYST

Boko Haram's insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria may link the Islamic extremist movement to the global militant network, an expert warned on Monday.

"I am convinced that there is some kind of outreach between Al-Qaeda and the Maghreb... people talk about formal training for Boko Haram and operatives in Sudan but also Somalia," Ola Bello, of the SA Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), told the Cape Town Press Club.

"I think I will give more credence to this sort of view today than three years ago, so I think there is some global link."

Bello said he believed Boko Haram foresaw and intended the international outrage and media coverage its abduction of 276 school girls in April created.

"With this groundswell of international interest that we have seen, there is no doubt about it that in terms of who has won the public relations war on this, Boko Haram has probably benefitted more than the Nigerian state.

"Is that going to allow them to secure some of the international connections and resources and all that international jihadists have been reluctant to provide previously?

"If that happens it would be a very sad outcome for the Nigerian state."

Bello, who heads the African resources governance programme at SAIIA, believed the government of President Goodluck Jonathan did not immediately grasp the implications of the abduction for the biggest economy in Africa.

"The abduction of the girls presented a real turning point. I think it is a crisis the president and his advisers take very seriously, but I do not think they fully appreciate the enormity of the crisis in terms of the way the international community perceives the Nigerian state and how capable it is and can provide security for its citizens and investors.

"In that sense they did not react as quickly as they should have."

He said the government needed foreign help to handle the crisis, but must weigh its options carefully because it would be disastrous to allow an operation that targeted Boko Haram with drone missiles, for example.

"The last thing many of us would see is an international intervention instrumentalised to promote the American war on terror and the American objective in a way that is disregarding of the views of the people living on the ground."

At the same time, Western sanctions were unlikely to have any impact on a group who did not travel or hold foreign bank accounts.

Bello said the dire socio-economic realities of the north-east -- in contrast to the flourishing south -- had allowed support for Boko Haram to grow.

"Boko Haram has successfully tapped into this groundswell of dissatisfaction to say the prevailing order has not served people well in this part of the country."

But the violence had only worsened the situation to the extent that basic services such as health and education there were now among the worst in Africa.

"Nobody with money to invest in their right mind wants to go to north-eastern Nigeria at this present time given the security challenges ... so the initial problems have become worse since the insurgency became full-blown.


Source : Sapa /ef/th/ks
Date : 09 Jun 2014 17:07
 
Mr_M said:
Sad to see such scum using Islam which is a peaceful religion as an excuse for their terrorism.
Click to expand...

That's only for public consumption but history tells a completely different story.

From the time that Mohammed conquered Mecca in 630 AD and converted its inhabitants to Islam, with death being the only alternative, nothing has changed. The same thing happened to all the areas, Christian and otherwise, within reach of Muslim armies.

The Taliban, Al Qaeda, Al Shab, Boko Haram etc are simply continuing Mohommet's programme of expansion, forced conversion and repression.

Many cities in the UK now have no-go areas which are unsafe for non-Muslims to enter. Malmö, in Sweden, is particularly unsafe for Jews because of Muslim aggression.
 
... and still Nigeria have a stronger economy than us.

Even with a civil war. Shows you just how destructive the corruption of the ANC in our country is.
 
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