“Gunmen” killed 15 people in an attack on a village in Lafia. The Joint Task Force claimed that Abubakar Adam Kamba was killed in March 2012. The US added Kamba to the list of global terrorists in June 2012 for ties to Boko Haram and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Specifics elusive in Nigeria’s extremist fight
The $7 million reward for Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s emir, puts him in the top echelon of wanted terrorist leaders. Rewards of $5 million are also offered for Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Yahya Abu Hammam.
Nigerian Islamist militants return from Mali with weapons, skills
Security forces arrested three Lebanese Hezbollah members over the past two weeks. The Hezbollah operatives stored weapons and planned attacks against Western and Israeli targets. The military claimed Boko Haram is in “disarray.”
Sahel ulema launch prison campaign
Nigerian authorities announced the arrest of three men believed to be tied to Hezbollah. Authorities believe the cell was going to target Israeli and Western interests.
Security forces claimed that a courier who worked for Boko Haram’s emir, Abubakar Shekau, was killed while trying to cross into Niger. Shekau claimed victory over the military and said Boko Haram dodged the sweeping operation in the north.
The military said it has seized control of all of Boko Haram’s camps in central and northern Borno; six children and three women who were being held as hostages were freed. Boko Haram fighters killed a security official in Maiduguri.
The al Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa said the suicide attacks were intended to punish Niger for “cooperation with France in the war against Sharia” in Mali.
Nigeria formally asked neighboring Niger to help combat Islamists in the northeastern region. Under a 2012 bilateral defense pact, Niger must come to Nigeria’s military aid when asked. The Nigerian military claimed to have arrested 120 militants at the funeral of a slain Boko Haram commander in Maiduguri. Curfews have been relaxed in Yobe and […]
The government called on Boko Haram members to surrender and offered amnesty to those who will do so. Boko Haram’s leader rejected an amnesty offer last month. The military claimed to have destroyed a number of terrorist camps in Borno state and said the dislodged terrorists are “in disarray.”
Nigeria kidnap victim Chris McManus was ‘unlawfully killed’
A curfew was imposed on Maiduguri as the campaign against Islamist groups continued. Military forces killed 10 fighters, arrested 65 more, and seized stockpiles of weapons, including RPGs. Many Borno state residents have fled to the Cameroon border. Kabiru Sokoto, the alleged Boko Haram ringleader behind the deadly Christmas Day 2011 bombing, was arraigned. Witnesses […]
The Nigerian military is launching airstrikes against Boko Haram camps and strongholds in the northern states where a state of emergency has been imposed. Thousands of soldiers have been deployed, and the military hopes to prevent the Islamist fighters from fleeing the country.
Global impact to Sahel terror
Fighter jets flew over Adamawa state, mobile phone service was cut off in Borno state, and troops poured into the northeastern region as the Nigerian military offensive gathered momentum against Boko Haram and other Islamist terror groups. Troops raided terrorist camps in the Sambisa Game Reserve in Borno state, where more than 2,000 soldiers have […]
A large number of government troops deployed to northeastern Nigeria to root out Boko Haram and other Islamist militants after the declaration of a state of emergency in the region. Militants are said to control at least 10 districts in Borno state, to maintain links with other Islamist groups in Africa, and to operate across […]
President Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeastern states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa due to the rising incidence of attacks by the al Qaeda-linked terror group Boko Haram and other Islamist groups. Gunmen armed with AK-47s and shouting “Allahu akbar” attacked a Christian farming village in Kaduna state on Sunday, killing at […]
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video purporting to show Nigerian women and children taken hostage by the group. He also claimed the group had carried out the May 7 attack in Bama and the April 16 attack in Baga. A federal judge sentenced Azim Aghajani, an Iranian, and Usman Abbas Jega, a Nigerian, […]
Gunmen from a local militia ambushed police officers in central Nassarawa state, killing 46. The ambush occurred as police were setting out to arrest the leader of the militia. The governor said the gunmen were from the Ombatse cult, which has already attacked officials, churches, and mosques. Ombatse, a banned group likely linked to Boko […]
Some 200 heavily armed Boko Haram militants launched coordinated attacks in the town of Bama in Borno state, killing 22 policemen, 14 prison officials, two soldiers, and four civilians, and freeing more than 100 prison inmates. Arriving in buses and pickup trucks and dressed in army uniforms, the militants attacked an army barracks and a […]
Thirty-nine people died and 30 were seriously wounded in clashes in Taraba state after a Christian funeral procession passed through a Muslim neighborhood. Gunmen arrived in a convoy of 50 Hilux vans in the Boko Haram stronghold of Marte in Borno state and burned down all the public buildings, including schools, hospitals, and telecommunications masts, […]
A new jihadist group, Ahlul Jihad, or the Nassiruddeen Li Ahlil Jihad Alal Kitab Was Sunnah, claimed to have seized a large arms cache after attacking a military barracks in Munguno in Borno state. Gunmen shot and killed the head of Borno’s Bale district in front of his wives and children yesterday. Four other district […]
Five Boko Haram fighters and two policemen were killed in Gashua in Yobe State as the Islamist fighters were robbing a bank. Boko Haram fighters killed four policemen and wounded the Divisional Police Officer in Bama in Borno State.
Five Boko Haram fighters and two policemen were killed after the Islamist group attacked a police station in Yobe. Security forces imposed a curfew in Yobe after the attack.
Nigerien and Chadian officials said a joint force of 120 Nigerian, Chadian, and Nigerien soldiers battled Boko Haram militants in Baga last week; as many as 187 people were killed, many of them civilians, and an investigation has been launched. Nigeria’s top counterterrorism official said the al Qaeda-linked group Ansaru aims to Islamize the Sahel […]
Fighting between security forces and Boko Haram militants left over 185 people dead in Baga in Borno state; the militants used civilians as human shields. Authorities charged Kabiru Sokoto with masterminding the Boko Haram attack on a Catholic church in Abuja on Christmas Day 2011 in which 37 people were killed. Boko Haram has killed […]
The leader of Boko Haram rejected the idea of amnesty and threatened the life of anyone claiming to represent the group. A Boko Haram faction rejected the amnesty idea last week. Northern state governors support amnesty as one avenue to peace. The Chief of Defence Staff advocated amnesty, but the Chief of Army Staff said […]
President Jonathan set up a committee to explore the idea of granting amnesty to members of the al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram. The Acting US Ambassador to Nigeria stated his government’s preference for dialogue over force in dealing with Boko Haram. Suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed the home of the deputy governor of Adamwa state, killing […]