The Boko Haram Thread

BOKO HARAM ATTACKS IN NORTH CAMEROON KILL THREE: MILITARY SOURCE

Islamists from Nigeria's Boko Haram killed at least three civilians over the weekend as they attacked six communities in the remote north of neighbouring Cameroon, a defence ministry source told AFP on Tuesday.

"Six attacks were carried out almost simultaneously on Sunday," the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that at least three people were reported killed in the attacks.

Boko Haram's five-year insurgency in Nigeria has left thousands dead, and the Islamists have occasionally carried out attacks over the border, including a raid earlier this year blamed on the group that saw 10 Chinese and 17 locals taken hostage. They were released in October.

Cameroon has reinforced its military presence in the region in a bid to stop an escalation in attacks by Boko Haram.


Source : Sapa-AFP /gq
Date : 11 Nov 2014 10:59
 
NIGERIAN AMBASSADOR BLASTS US REFUSAL TO SELL ARMS

Nigeria's ambassador to the U.S. blasts Washington for refusing to sell "lethal weapons" to fight his country's Islamic uprising, saying it has let down an old ally in its hour of need. He says Nigeria's people and government feel abandoned by America.

Ambassador Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye says it is difficult to understand how Boko Haram is expanding the territory it controls and the deadliness of its attacks despite the U.S. presence and sophisticated technology in Nigeria.

He claims the extremists would have been defeated "within a short time" with the needed weapons.

He spoke Monday night to members of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Adefuye denied reports of gross abuses by Nigeria's military. U.S. laws ban sales of certain weapons to countries demonstrating consistent abuses.


Source : Sapa-AP /gq
Date : 11 Nov 2014 12:07
 
I'm surprised that Nigeria hasn't gone around to all of the bonded warehouses and collected the many millions of dollars that the widows of deceased ministers have stored there. I'm pretty sure that Nigeria could buy all the guns it wants and still give me 10% for the idea.
 
US DENIES FAILING TO HELP NIGERIA FIGHT BOKO HARAM

The United States hit back Wednesday at allegations by the Nigerian ambassador of failing to help fight Boko Haram militants, saying there had been "a great deal" of US aid to his country.

In the past six months since the Islamic militants snatched some 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria, Washington has shared intelligence with the Nigerian army, begun training a new battalion and held high-level talks on the threat of Boko Haram, a US official said.

In a speech made public Tuesday, ambassador Adebowale Adefuye appeared to have taken US officials by surprise when he launched into a tirade against the US administration.

Nigerian leaders were "not satisfied with the scope, nature and content of the United States' support for us in our struggle against terrorists," he said.

He accused Washington of not providing the "lethal" weapons needed to deliver "a killer punch" to the militants.

But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki shot back that the US had "provided and approved sales of military equipment to its armed forces."

"These decisions are made, of course, after careful scrutiny to ensure they conform with United States law."

But she acknowledged the US had refused to transfer some Cobra helicopters due to concerns about the Nigerian army's ability to use them.

There were also "ongoing concerns about the Nigerian military's protection of civilians when conducting military operations," Psaki said, adding these had been discussed with the Nigerian authorities.

Adefuye told members of the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday that allegations of human rights abuses by the military were "rumors, hearsays and exaggerated accounts" put about by rivals of President Goodluck Jonathan and rights groups.

But Psaki stressed the US would not raise such concerns "if we didn't feel and others didn't feel that they were warranted."

Washington was ready to help Nigeria train and improve the effectiveness of its military, Psaki added, urging the government to investigate allegations of abuses.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mm
Date : 13 Nov 2014 00:29
 
HUNTERS KILL 75 BOKO HARAM MEMBERS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA, REPORTS SAY

Hunters have killed at least 75 members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram in a northern Nigerian town, daily newspaper Premium Times reported Thursday.

According to the report, hunters in Maiha were angry about constant killings in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram militants, who had taken control of the town following a battle with government troops on Monday.

"The hunters mobilized and gave the insurgents a hot chase during which many Boko Haram sect members are killed," Maiha resident Bello Ya'u was quoted as saying.

The hunters recaptured the town from Boko Haram on Wednesday, the website This Day Live reported.

"We had to wake up and fight the bastards that keep plaguing our societies killing innocents souls," hunter Baba Dauda said.

Bako Goni, coordinator of a grassroots policing force in Maiha's Adamawa state, said in the Premium Times report that more than 2,000 people had signed up to fight Boko Haram there.

They include youth vigilantes, hunters, retired soldiers, paramilitary operatives, artisans and petty traders, Goni said.

Critics accuse the Nigerian government of not deploying sufficient means in the fight against Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people in its campaign to establish an Islamist state in the country.


Source : Sapa-dpa /gq
Date : 13 Nov 2014 12:5
 
BOKO HARAM INVADES TWO TOWNS IN NE NIGERIA

Scores of Boko Haram fighters on Thursday invaded two towns in northeast Nigeria's Adamawa state after hunters and civilian vigilantes reportedly ousted them from a key town, residents told AFP.

The Islamists raided Hong and Gombi, some 100 kilometres (62.5 miles) from the state capital, Yola, after they were pushed out of the commercial hub of Mubi, which they seized two weeks ago.

Boko Haram is thought to have captured more than two dozen towns in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states in recent months, as part of its quest to establish a hardline caliphate in the region.

But despite apparently losing control of Mubi, which the Islamists renamed Madinatul Islam or "City of Islam" in Arabic the invasion of Hong and Gombi saw them move closer to Yola.

Thousands of residents have been taking refuge in the city from the violence.

The vigilantes had reportedly reclaimed the town of Maiha on Wednesday after a fierce battle in which scores of the insurgents were said to have been killed, although there was no official confirmation.

In Gombi, resident Haruna Awwalu said Boko Haram were patrolling the streets, firing heavy weaponry, while another local, Rabi Tanimu, said people were cowering indoors and many had fled into the bush.

"They have burnt down the police station, the local government secretariat and the market after overpowering the police, " Awwalu said.

In Hong, 20 kilometres away, the police station was also razed and the militants raised their black flag outside the home of a retired military general.

Chibado Bobi, chief of staff in Adamawa state governor's office in Mubi confirmed that civilian vigilantes and hunters had recaptured the town.

"It is true Mubi has fallen back into the hands of Nigerian soldiers with the help of local vigilantes and hunters," he said.

"It is however too early for residents who fled to move back to Mubi because the security and vigilantes need to mop up all remnants of the group that may be lurking in nearby areas."

One resident, who asked not to be named, said about 200 vigilantes and hunters armed with den (home-made) guns, spears, clubs, bows and arrows, and machetes were involved in the recapture.

"I saw the Boko Haram fighters fleeing in droves in their vehicles when the hunters and vigilantes entered the town", he added.

"Their emir (leader) was captured by the hunters and made to sit outside the military barracks that he and his men turned into their base.

"He had his hands tied from the back and we swarmed to have a look but we were later dispersed by the hunters."


Source : Sapa-AFP /mm
Date : 14 Nov 2014 01:2
 
MILITARY CHOPPER CRASHES IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

Witnesses and police say a military helicopter crashed in an explosion of fire near a college hostel in northeast Nigeria, where troops are fighting an Islamic insurgency. They saw no survivors.

Four days earlier, the military reported a helicopter safely crash-landed in the area. Two months ago, Islamic extremists said they shot down a fighter jet and published video showing the beheading of a man friends identified as a Nigerian Air Force pilot.

The United States said Wednesday it refused to sell Nigeria attack helicopters partly because of concerns it could maintain the aircraft.

Police spokesman Othman Abubakar confirmed the crash in Yola, capital of Adamawa state, but gave no details.

Witness Habu Mallam said it fell in a ball of fire around midnight Thursday.


Source : Sapa-AP /gq
Date : 14 Nov 2014 10:58
 
BOKO HARAM SLAUGHTERS 48 FISH VENDORS IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

Suspected Boko Haram extremists ambushed and slaughtered 48 fish vendors near Nigeria's border with Chad, the head of their association said, the latest violence to hit the country's volatile northeast.

"Scores of Boko Haram fighters blocked a route linking Nigeria with Chad near the fishing village of Doron Baga on the shores of Lake Chad on Thursday and killed a group of 48 fish traders on their way to Chad to buy fish," Abubakar Gamandi, head of the fish traders association, told AFP.

Gamandi said that after setting up a barricade at Dogon Fili, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Doron Baga in Borno state, the attackers stopped a convoy of fish vendors around midday, silently slaughtering some and drowning others in the lake.

"The Boko Haram gunmen slit the throats of some of the men and tied the hands and legs of the others before throwing them into the lake to drown," Gamandi told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

It was unclear if the motive for the gruesome attack was robbery or if there were other reasons for the killings. Boko Haram has at times targeted residents seemingly indiscriminately in its deadly insurgency.

Doron Baga, 180 kilometres from Maiduguri, is the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger fighting the Islamist group.

The MNJTF was formed in 1998 to fight trans-border crime but its mandate has been expanded as part of efforts to tame the Boko Haram insurgency in the region.

Gamandi claimed the assailants killed all of their victims without using their guns.

"The attackers killed their victims silently without the use of the gun to avoid attracting attention from the multi-national troops," he said.

News of the attack was slow to emerge due to the destruction of mobile phone towers in the area by Boko Haram in previous attacks.

A military officer in Maiduguri confirmed it but said details were sketchy.

"We heard of the attack near Doron Baga but we don't have any details because the area falls under the operational jurisdiction of the MNJTF," the military officer said.

In nearby Niger, visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Walls condemned "a new barbaric act" by what he called "a terrorist organisation".

"This is a new illustration of the threat posed by this group, this sect, on the people of Nigeria as well as those of neighbouring countries," he said.

Incessant Boko Haram attacks have disrupted fishing and farming along the shores of Lake Chad. Fishermen from Doron Baga have been forced to abandon fishing and have turned to importing dried fish from neighbouring Chad.

Gamandi said the Dogon Fili route provided the safest passage for traders from Doron Baga to Chad as other routes are infested with Boko Haram gunmen who rob and kill travellers.

Last December at least seven fishermen were killed when Boko Haram Islamists attacked Doron Baga in a nighttime raid that left many homes burnt.

In August, the Islamists raided Dogon Baga and kidnapped 97 people after killing 28 villagers.

The hostages, including women and children, were loaded on speed boats and ferried across the lake into Chad.

Chadian troops rescued 85 of the hostages when they intercepted a convoy of buses transporting them from the shores.

More than 13,000 people have been killed since the insurgency began in 2009 and Boko Haram is now said to be in control of more than two dozen towns in Nigeria's northeast in its quest for a hardline Islamic state.

The Islamists have made major gains over the past 18 months and violence has continued at a relentless pace in three northeastern states that had long been under a state of emergency.

The emergency measures expired this week and President Goodluck Jonathan, who is running for re-election in February, has yet to get a parliamentary approval for an extension.

In Lagos, Nigeria's main opposition party claimed Sunday that security agents had ransacked its office in Lagos, arresting workers and seizing documents, in the latest flareup ahead of February elections.


Source : Sapa-AFP /aw
Date : 23 Nov 2014 23:24
 
BOKO HARAM ATTACKS NIGERIA MARKET: MILITARY, OFFICIAL

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen disguised as traders opened fire Monday at a crowded market in a northeast Nigeria border town, a military officer and a local official said.

It was not yet possible to give a death toll, the senior officer with direct knowledge of the raid told AFP. The shooting began at about 11:00 am (1000 GMT).

"The terrorists disguised as traders and opened fire on unsuspecting traders at a market in Damasak" in Borno state near the border with Niger, the officer said.

Mohammed Damasak, who works with the local government, said the weapons were concealed in containers the gunmen brought to the market.

"They pretended to be traders but sadly inflicted horror. Many traders escaped with bullet wounds while many are lying dead at the market," he added.

Boko Haram, which wants to carve out a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria, was blamed for a similar raid at the weekend that left 48 people dead in the nearby town of Doron Baga.

Relentless violence which has plagued the region for years had eased slightly as Boko Haram apparently pursued a campaign to establish itself as a rebel government in captured towns, trying to assure locals that they could live under Islamist rule.

But many experts argued that the militants would ultimately resume killing, especially if confronted with military pressure.

The Boko Haram insurgency is estimated to have cost more than 13,000 lives since 2009.


Source : Sapa-AFP /ma
Date : 24 Nov 2014 15:25
 
NIGERIA'S TOP ISLAMIC LEADER SLAMS MILITARY ON BOKO HARAM

Nigeria's top Islamic leader on Monday accused the military of fleeing when Boko Haram attacks and terrorising civilians, in the harshest ever criticism from the key cleric, as violence persisted in the northeast.

A statement from the country's top Muslim body, the JNI, described the military's handling of the five-year Islamist uprising as "unfortunate, worrisome and embarrassing".

The JNI speaks for Nigeria's top cleric, the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar.

"Soldiers take to their heels and abandon their bases, arms, ammunition and other military hardware on the approach of the insurgents!" the statement said.

"Nigerian Security Forces only surface after the deadly attacks and terrorise an already terrorised people by installing road blocks and searching homes," it added.

The condemnation came after similar remarks last week from Nigeria's number two Islamic cleric, the Emir of Kano, and will likely infuriate President Goodluck Jonathan's government, which expects traditional monarchs to abstain from political commentary.

In a speech released at the weekend, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade meanwhile accused the media and other "campaigners" of distorting the military effort against Boko Haram, tarnishing Nigeria's global image and hurting troop morale.

Another attack occurred Monday, when suspected Boko Haram gunmen entered a market in the northeast town of Damasak at about 11:00 am (1000 GMT) and opened fire on unarmed traders, a military officer and a local government official told AFP.

The militants were disguised as traders, carrying containers they claimed were full of goods for sale but which in fact were stuffed with AK-47 rifles, the official, Mohammed Damasak, said.

The gunmen "inflicted horror", he said, adding: "Many traders escaped with bullet wounds while many are lying dead at the market."

A military officer with direct knowledge of the attack but who requested anonymity said soldiers had deployed to the market and were battling the militants "for control of the town".

Damasak, in northeast Borno state, is close to the Niger border, a remote region with a poor telephone network.

It was not immediately possible to establish a death toll or whether the Islamists had chased out the military.

Boko Haram is believed to have taken over more than two dozen towns in recent weeks as part of a campaign to establish a strict Islamic state in the northeast.

The tough JNI statement will likely ratchet up tensions ahead of Nigeria's general elections in February.

The main opposition All Progressives Congress is widely expected to nominate a candidate from the mainly Muslim north against Jonathan, who is a southern Christian, and Nigeria's religious divide will be a key factor in the vote.

The JNI, speaking on behalf the Sultan, condemned the recent Boko Haram violence while urging the government "with the loudest voice, to wake up to its fundamental and obligatory responsibility of protecting lives".

It accused the government of "wallowing in diatribe" against a growing number of critics who say the military response to Boko Haram's five-year uprising has been woefully inadequate.

Also on Monday, the Sultan met the head of Nigeria's main Christian organisation at a roundtable in Abuja, the nation's capital that sits between the mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Christian leader Ayo Oritsejafor sought to draw attention to attacks on churches, though Muslims have repeatedly been targeted as well in Boko Haram's five-year insurgency.

"It will be wrong to say they don't kill Muslims, please don't misunderstand me," said Oritsejafor, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

"But if you go to a city like Mubi (northeastern Nigeria), no church is standing as I speak. Every church in that city has been levelled."

The Sultan said recommendations put to President Jonathan on how to end the violence in a letter from him and Oritsejafor two years ago seemed to have been ignored.

"We can only advise. We do not have constitutional powers to implement," he said.

Jonathan, on a visit to Chad, had not reacted to the comments, but said in a statement that Nigeria needed help from its neighbours in battling the Islamists.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kn
Date : 25 Nov 2014 00:18
 
2000 people feared dead in Nigeria after Boko Haram attacks

Nigeria's militant Islamists have carried out a second attack on the key north-eastern town of Baga, an official has told the BBC.

Boko Haram fighters burnt down almost the entire town on Wednesday, after over-running a military base on Saturday, Musa Alhaji Bukar said.

Bodies lay strewn on Baga's streets, amid fears that some 2,000 people had been killed in the raids, he added.

Boko Haram launched a military campaign in 2009 to create an Islamic state.

Read more:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30728158
 
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