Suspected Takfiri Boko Haram militants have stormed a town in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, forcing hundreds of army troops to flee the restive area. Local sources said more than 2,000 armed terrorists entered Marte on Thursday and continued to fight with Nigerian government forces into Friday. The militants went on a shooting spree and killed several people, according to the sources. Imamu Habeeb, a local community leader, said the terrorists “appeared from various directions on Thursday,” adding, "They fought with soldiers over the night and the fight continued today (Friday), forcing hundreds of soldiers to flee.”

Shehu Dan Baiwa, a local fighter also noted that the militants, who were armed with bombs and tanks, “used the weapons without restraint and succeeded in killing several people.” Meanwhile, a senior local politician, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said Boko Haram had retaken Marte. If confirmed officially, it would be Boko Haram's third seizure of the town in the troubled Borno State.

 

Back in February, four nations of the Lake Chad Basin - Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria - launched a joint campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram in the region. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government. The Takfiri militants have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of the country since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far left over 13,000 people dead and displaced 1.5 million.

 

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25.Apr.2015

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Nigerian security forces have killed a senior commander of Boko Haram Takfiri militants during a gun battle in the country's northeast, the army spokesman said. The shootout occurred on the outskirts of the town of Alagarno in Borno State on Tuesday when Boko Haram commander Abu Mojahid was killed, army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said on Wednesday. He said a number of terrorists were killed as the security forces clashed with the Takfiris, adding that the army had seized rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns from the militants.

The army continued its operation to root out Boko Haram militants in Borno State, including the terrorists' main hub in Sambisa forest, said Olukolade. Since 2009, the three northeastern Nigerian states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, have been the epicenter of Boko Haram violence.  The Nigerian security forces have, with the military support of some regional countries, regained control of the towns seized by the militants in northeastern regions. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria, which have left over 14,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced over the past few years.

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23.Apr.2015

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Armies from Nigeria and neighbours Chad, Niger and Cameroon have in the past two months launched a concerted push to try to crush the insurgents, who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their battle to establish an Islamic state. The Sambisa forest in north-east Nigeria, a vast former colonial game reserve, is about 100 km from the village of Chibok from where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 secondary school girls a year ago. Intelligence officials had believed this was where they were being held, although US reconnaissance drones have failed to find them. UN Special Representative for West Africa Mohamed Ibn Chambas said this month Boko Haram militants seeking shelter in the Sambisa Forest may be using some of the captured girls as human shields.

A spokesman for the military was not immediately available for comment. An official in the Chadian army said Chadian and Cameroonian troops were ready to attack Sambisa, which lies near the Cameroon border, from the other side and would move in soon. Chadian troops were assembling in Mora, northern Cameroon, ahead of the joint operation, a Cameroonian army official said. The militants controlled an area the size of Belgium at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground.

Yet they remain a deadly threat to civilians, as illustrated on Friday when they slit the throats of 12 people in north-east Nigeria as the army was trying to evacuate the area around the former Boko Haram headquarters of Gwoza. Failure to crush Boko Haram or protect civilians was one reason President Goodluck Jonathan lost an election on March 28 to Muhammadu Buhari, who has pledged to spare no effort in battling the militants after he is sworn in on May 29.  Buhari also said he would do everything possible to rescue the Chibok girls, but could not promise to find them.

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23.Apr.2015

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(Reuters) - Nigeria's military said on Thursday it was still advancing in Islamist group Boko Haram's last known stronghold, dismissing reports that land mines had forced them to retreat.

A pro-government vigilante and a security source had earlier said troops pulled back from the Sambisa forest after three vigilantes were killed driving over an anti-vehicle mine.

"It's not true that our troops are retreating, in fact we are still marching forward in Sambisa. Our troops are still in there," Defence Spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said by telephone.

Earlier, a soldier who asked not to be named said: "The soldiers have retreated to Bama because of mines. They had been on the road but that made them vulnerable, so they moved to the bush but there are mines planted there (too)."

The Sambisa forest, a former colonial game reserve, is about 100 km (60 miles) from the village of Chibok, from where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 secondary schoolgirls a year ago.

Intelligence officials believed they were being held in the forest, but U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to locate them.

"Three of our boys were killed by a landmine as we progressed into Sambisa. We've suspended going farther," Muhammad Mungonu, the vigilante, told Reuters.

The militants controlled an area the size of Belgium at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground after a concerted push by troops from Nigeria and neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the past two months.

A Chadian military source said a joint military operation involving forces from Niger and Cameroon was expected to begin to encircle the Sambisa forest next week. Chadian troops will go in from the Cameroonian border, where they have been massing.

Over the last six years, Boko Haram have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in a battle to establish an Islamic caliphate. President Goodluck Jonathan's failure to crush the Islamists contributed to his defeat in Nigeria's March 28 election.

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23.Apr.2015

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At least two Nigerian soldiers have been killed following an attack by Boko Haram Takfiri militants in the troubled northeast Nigeria, local residents say.  Witnesses and local resident said Tuesday that the deadly assault was carried out in the town of Baga Baga, located in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno. "Boko Haram fired a rocket-propelled grenade on a military van in an ambush in Baga which killed two soldiers and destroyed the vehicle," media outlets quoted local residents as saying.

The attack also triggered a fierce exchange of fire between the Nigerian security forces and heavily armed militants, they added. "Following the attack which killed two soldiers there was a prolonged gun battle between soldiers and the Boko Haram gunmen, which forced the gunmen to flee," the media said. Separately, six soldiers and a civilian vigilante were critically injured when their vehicle hit a mine planted by the militant group in the same troubled region. 

Around 150 people were killed in an attack by Boko Haram on Baga in early January. This came after hundreds of Boko Haram militants started the raid on Baga, which is located close to Nigeria’s border with Chad, on January 3 and seized the town and neighboring villages as well as a military base.

The three Nigerian states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, located in Nigeria’s northeastern regions, have been the epicenter of Boko Haram violence which started six years ago.The Nigerian military says it has in recent months regained most of the towns seized by the militants in the three states with the backing of some regional countries.  Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” controls parts of northeastern Nigeria and says its goal is to overthrow the government.

The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shootings and bombings in various parts of Nigeria, which have left over 13,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced over the past few years. Boko Haram recently declared allegiance to the ISIL Takfiri group, which is perpetrating heinous crimes against humanity in areas under its control in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

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22.Apr.2015

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Deadly clashes between two chiefly fishing and farming communities in central Nigeria’s Benue state have left at least 23 people dead, police say. “Some 23 corpses have been recovered following the fighting between Ologba and Egba communities in Agatu local government area of the state,” Austin Ezeani, state police spokesman, told AFP on Sunday.

Quarrel over fishing rights in the region sparked the latest clash between the two villages, which also left a number of people injured, he added. “The two neighbors were fighting over ownership of a fish pond. The violence broke out on Friday and continued until Saturday with many people also injured,” Ezeani said. Police put an end to the violence and the area is calm again, he said.

Eighty-two Egba people were killed in an attack by Fulani herdsmen last month. Egba villagers blame the Ologba people for helping Fulanis in the raid. “The Egba people believed the Fulani herdsmen could not have entered their community without passing through Ologba. So they believed the Ologba villagers must have aided the Fulani in that attack,” Ezeani said. Over the past few years, attacks and reprisal attacks by farmers and ethnic Fulani herdsmen have left hundreds of people dead. The Middle Belt in central Nigeria, which encompasses Bento state, has been the site of ethnic, sectarian and communal violence in recent years.

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20.Apr.2015

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