Abu Zinnira, a Boko Haram spokesperson, claimed that the group will begin targeting youth vigilante groups that have formed recently in Borno and Yobe states to counter Boko Haram’s violence. Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are said to have regrouped in the Mandara mountains, between Borno and Adamawara states and Cameroon; there the militants have killed two district heads, a retired pastor, and a school principal; burnt four churches; and pillaged a number of towns. In northern Zamfara state, about 150 heavily armed gunmen on motorcycles killed some 50 civilians and set houses and shops on fire. A Frenchman was rescued from pirates in a joint operation by the Nigerian Navy and French Marines.
