Boko Haram gunmen stormed a town in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state near the border with Cameroon killing seven people, resident said Saturday, while the army reported two soldiers died as well as 16 militants.

Gunmen on motorcycles raided the town of Rann in Kalabalge district overnight Friday to Saturday and opened fire on homes, fleeing residents said.

“They opened fire on homes as we slept and killed seven people before carting away our food supplies and drugs from the only clinic in the town,” Rann resident Abba Abiso said.

The Nigerian army confirmed the attack in a statement on Saturday, saying it lost two soldiers while 16 Boko Haram terrorists were killed.

“The troops killed seven of the attackers instantly while quite a number escaped with gunshot wounds,” the army said.

“During clearance operations this morning, the troops discovered nine more Boko Haram terrorists dead bodies in the surrounding areas. Therefore the total number of terrorists killed was 16,” it added.

Residents had fled into Cameroon and the town of Gamboru, 28 kilometres (17 miles) away.

Another witness Ari Ngamsu added: “The Boko Haram gunmen planted two high calibre explosives on the way outside the town but soldiers from Gamboru succeeded in defusing them at daybreak.”

Both witnesses spoke on Cameroonian phone lines, the only means of communication available following the destruction of telecom masts by Boko Haram in previous attacks.

The Nigerian army also said it recovered a machine gun, a rocket propelled grenade and ammunitions from the insurgents, two of whom were captured alive.

Rann and nearby villages have been been targeted in a number of attacks by Boko Haram despite successes by the Nigerian military that have pushed the terrorists out of some areas.

The attacks have forced villagers to flee their homes, returning to them after they were clawed back by the military.

Last month the insurgents sacked neighbouring Wumbi and Jikana villages outside Rann, killing eight people and looting food supplies.

Boko Haram has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since 2009.

abna24.com

Kenyan police said Saturday that “more than 100” militants from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group raided a police station in north-east Kenya overnight, injuring one officer and making off with arms and ammunition.

Police chief Joseph Boinnet confirmed the attack. “Officers put up stiff resistance and fought them off despite Shabaab numbering over 100 in three trucks and heavy mortar fire,” he said.

A police source speaking on condition of anonymity said more than 10,000 bullets plus 13 AK-47 assault rifles, police uniforms and other items were stolen from the station.

Diff police station suffered a similar raid in April this year when three officers were wounded and a police vehicle stolen. Officials said around 100 Shabaab fighters were also involved in that raid.

abna24.com

Niger has moved much of its air force to a new base it is building at the airfield close to the town of Diffa on the Nigerian border, satellite imagery shows.

Airbus Defence and Space imagery from 7 March shows that two Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack jets were at the Diffa airstrip on that date. The Niger Air Force operates two Su-25s that it acquired from Ukraine in 2013. These were previously based at Diori Hamani International Airport outside the capital Niamey, more than 1,100 km to the west.

A Cessna 208B turboprop, two Mi-24 assault helicopters, and one Mi-8/17 transport helicopter were also at Diffa on 7 March. The United States delivered two 208Bs that have been modified for the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) role to Niger in October 2015.

The imagery also showed extensive construction work was under way at the facility, with new parking areas already built for the Su-25 and three hangars under construction.

Another image taken on 28 May shows that the two smaller hangars had been completed by that date. An additional 208B was present on that date and only one Su-25 could be seen, but the number of helicopters remained unchanged.

Fresh markings have also been painted on the runway and the base now has a complete security perimeter and additional vehicle-inspection area at the entrance point.

 

 

janes.com

When it comes to Mali, attention has focused on the conflict in the north, but over the past year tensions have been climbing in the central part of the country as well. New armed groups have emerged in the face of continued banditry and disputes over resources.

In the courtyard of the mayor’s office in Kerena, shaded by neem trees, young men sit idle.

No one is grazing their cattle anymore, out of fear, says Moussa Issa Bary, a herder from this village in Mali’s central Mopti region.

He says “we are afraid of everyone, mainly the armed bandits on motorbikes that roam the countryside, but also the security forces that arrest you if they find you in the bush because think you support the rebels.”

By rebels, he is referring to a broad and ever-evolving spectrum of armed groups that have been emerging around the Mopti region.

The most well-known is the Macina Liberation Front, a jihadist movement active since early last year, mainly in central Mali.

Bandits, militias

But criminality and conflict over land and resources are also destabilizing the area. Locals say there is little government presence outside the major urban areas. And Peul traders, herders and village chiefs told VOA that bandits and ethnic militias, some branding themselves as jihadists, have been recruiting young men.

Some analysts believe local bandits could just be adopting extremist rhetoric to scare authorities.

The mayor of the nearby village of Kerena, Ibrahima Hamadoune Bary, called the situation catastrophic.

He says people no longer dare to leave the town to go their fields. At one point, he says we had at least one deadly attack a week. In some villages, he says food is becoming a problem because the population don’t have access to markets.

The situation is even more complicated now than it was a year ago when the Bamako government signed a peace agreement with separatist rebels and other northern armed groups, says Boukary Sangare, a researcher studying the Mopti region since 2008.

Marginalized youth

He says “today the state is absent in several parts of the region where former members of armed groups have moved in. I call these people neo-jihadists because they used to cooperate with the Islamists.”

Some of these groups are attracting Peul youth who say they feel marginalized.

The peace agreement, signed in Algiers one year ago, focused on the three northern regions of Mali — Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal. The herders and farmers of the Mopti region were not represented.

Sangare says “because the state has been unable to address these issues some youth within the Peul community have felt it necessary to take up arms to defend themselves.”

Earlier this month, the National Alliance for the Safeguarding of the Peul Identity and the Restoration of Justice, known by its French acronym the ANSIPJ, announced itself as a military force. Its leader Omar al-Janah, a 27-year-old teacher, reportedly of Tuareg and Peul parents, claims to have 700 fighters at his disposal.

Claims of government abuses

In June, the U.N. Security Council voted to beef up the mandate and size of the U.N. peacekeeping force to Mali amid continued jihadist attacks in the north.

Sangare says central Mali should not be ignored.

“The center is the umbilical cord that binds the north and south together. If the Peul rise up, you risk losing the north and the center too,” Sangare says.

Residents of the Mopti region accuse the government of abuses and mass arrests, something that is feeding resentment.

This man says he was swept up by security forces with nine other men and detained for two months. He says when they arrested me I thought they would kill me. That’s what they do with Peul men because they think we support the jihadists.

He says he was beaten and starved. His family paid to get him released.

He says we had to sell some of our best cows. My mother doesn’t want me to go with the animals in the bush after what happened.

Peul activists and local leaders who spoke to VOA told similar stories of being arrested and their families having to pay for their release.

Kaman Kane, the governor of the Mopti region, justified the arrests, saying it was part of the strategy to suppress the violence in the region.

 

 

voanews.com

This Islamic State released a video Wednesday touting the successes of its African affiliate, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the terror group more popularly known as Boko Haram. The jihadists in the video vow to enslave the entire continent, beginning with the conquest of Niger

The video titled “Invading Niger” shows Boko Haram jihadists in training, speaking in what appears to be the regional Hausa language. With a jihadist nasheed, or fight song, playing in the background, the video also shows Islamic State jihadists attacking Bosso, a Nigerien town on the Niger-Nigeria border. The terrorists attacked a military camp in the town, directly threatening troops deployed to help Nigeria contain the Islamist insurgency.

Boko Haram repeatedly attacked Bosso in May and June due to the military presence there. In response, neighboring Chad deployed 2,000 troops to the town in June, with Chadian authorities noting that the troops that would be operating in the town would not only be Chadian but “multi-national.” Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger have had an extended cooperation agreement to fight Boko Haram since 2014.

Boko Haram is headquartered in Borno, Nigeria, with its leaders believed to be hiding in the dense Sambisa forest in the northeastern Nigerian state. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari launched an extended campaign to eradicate the terrorist group in late 2015, and the president himself announced in December that “technically, we have won the war” against Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has repeatedly managed to stage terrorist attacks since then, however, forcing the Nigerian government to insist that every new successful attack is a sign that the organization has been destroyed.

The group has also managed successes not necessarily associated with the battlefield. For example, the Nigerian government last week arrested one of President Buhari’s bodyguards for having ties to Boko Haram, a sign that the group has managed to infiltrate the highest levels of the Nigerian government.

This week, three female suicide bombers attempted to attack a refugee camp in Borno.Soldiers thwarted two of the women, but the third detonated herself near two civilians, injuring them.

Boko Haram has also expanded its reach. On Wednesday, more than 100 jihadists attacked the Cameroonian border, attacking multiple villages and robbing them of food and vital supplies. In response, national troops are going village by village destroying hidden Boko Haram supplies and looking for fugitive terrorists.

Last week, a Boko Haram terrorist blew himself up, killing seven in Cameroon, as well. The attack appears to have been retribution against local anti-jihadist vigilante groups.

The destruction of villages has created a dire humanitarian situation in the region’s refugee camps. The United Nations warned this year that up to 50,000 children could die of starvation in Borno state without further action, if people are not allowed to return home and peacefully rebuild their villages.

 

 

breitbart.com

Five people were killed and at least three others injured in two separate incidents when unidentified gunmen attacked passenger vehicles Monday and Tuesday along the Torit-Kapoeta Road, according to state officials in the South Sudanese town of Torit.

A medical worker at Torit Civil Hospital said some of the injured are listed in critical condition.

Eyewitnesses said that in the first incident Monday, gunmen shot at a passenger vehicle near the small village of Tuhubak, 30 kilometers from Torit on the Torit-Kapoeta Road, killing the driver.

They said some of the passengers narrowly escaped death by jumping out of the moving vehicle and running into the bush.

A woman who survived said the attackers stole everything from the vehicle, including money and luggage.

“It was around 10 p.m. when they started shooting at us,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation. “They shot the driver and he fell down, and the vehicle continued to move for some distance. When it stopped, all of us got out and fled into the bush.

“When the attackers came, they were calling for people to come out, but no one did so. I had my sister’s child, who cried and the attackers came and caught me. They took everything from me and those in the vehicle.”

The woman said she could not identify the men because it was too dark.

Tuesday’s attack

In the second incident Tuesday, unknown gunmen shot at a Land Cruiser in an area called Idolu on the same road, approximately 10 kilometers from Torit. The driver was transporting passengers to Kapoeta.

Eyewitnesses said four people were killed on the spot, and three others — including a child — were wounded and are recovering at Torit Civil Hospital.

Wednesday, anxious residents crowded around the entrance to the hospital’s mortuary, hoping their loved ones were not among the five dead.

Major General Edward Dimitiri Lokak, the Imotong State Police Commissioner, said security forces are working to prevent further attacks on the Torit-Kapoeta Road, but did not specify what measures are being taken.

The main road is about 100 kilometers north of Uganda and links the newly created Imotong state to Kenya. It is one of the new states unilaterally created by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir when he expanded the number of states from 10 to 28.

 

 

voanews.com

Troops have killed a Boko Haram spy carrying out surveillance for the group in Borno State, the Nigerian Army said in a statement on Tuesday, July 5.

“The patrol team of 157 Task Force Battalion, 7 Brigade, on Monday ambushed and killed a Boko Haram spy at Barwati village, Kukawa Local Government Area,” army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman said.

The terrorist was said to have been on a mission to infiltrate the troops’ position.

According to Usman, he was killed while trying to gain entry into military location.

“The team recovered 1 AK-47 rifle, 59 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition, one 40mm x 46mm BGL2 grenade, 1 bandolier and 3 AK-47 rifle magazines from him.

“Troops have intensified vigilance and high level of alertness as they continued with efforts of clearing the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists in their Area of Responsibility,” the statement said.

However, security agencies have warned muslims to exercise caution and to be on high alert at mosques and large gatherings in celebration of the Eid-Fitri, as the insurgents might want to take advantage of the festive period.

 

 

busyghana.com/

Internally Displaced Persons in Monguno town of Borno State were saved from what could have turned out a deadly attack when vigilant troops of the Nigeria Army spotted three female suicide advancing towards their camp and gunned down two of them in the early hours of Tuesday, officials said.

One of the suicide bombers was able to detonate her device hidden under her garment amidst the shooting and got two innocent civilians injured.

This happened as another detachment of the troops, still in northern part of Borno, was able to ambush a gang of Boko Haram members conveying supplies of logistics for their members somewhere near Kukawa local government area of Borno State.

Kukawa is just about 48km northwest of Monguno.

The soldiers were able to subdue the moving Boko Haram members by killing four of them. They intercepted several litres of different of vehicle fuel, cache of arms and IEDs.

Spokesman of the Nigeria Army, Sani Kukasheka Usman who revealed these in two press statements, said the troop were in good form and continuing with the operation in the disturbed region.

“Today at about 6.15am, 3 female Boko Haram terrorists suicide bombers attempted to attack innocent Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) fetching water at a borehole located about 3 kilometres, outskirt of Monguno town along Marte road.

“Our vigilant troops detected and gunned them down, killing both instantly.

Unfortunately,  the explosive they were strapped with exploded and injured 2 civilians nearby. The injured persons have been evacuated and are receiving medical attention at the 8 Task Force Division’s medical facility.

“However, the third suicide bomber that followed a different route, detonated some distance before troops deployment along the same road at about 7.10am.

“Troops have cordoned off the general area and imposed restriction of movement  into Monguno while they the general area and make it safe”.

**************************************

“At the early hours of today, troops of 118 Task Force Battalion, 8 Task Force Division sprang a surprised ambush on some elements of Boko Haram terrorists along Gerere Junction, Kukawa Local Government Area, on the northern part of Borno State.

“The Boko Haram terrorists were suspected to be fleeing from the advancing troops of 119 Task Force Battalion presently mopping the general area of Kangarwa in Kukawa Local Government Area.

“During the operation, the troops killed 4 Boko Haram terrorists carrying logistics items. The troops recovered 48 Jerry cans containing 1,440 litres  of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)  Automatic Gasoline Oil (AGO),  8 Motorcycles  out of which 2 were destroyed, 21 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition, 2  AK-47 rifles,  an unprimed Improvised Explosive Device and a 36 Henagar Hand Grenade, as well as assorted drugs.

“However, one of the military vehicle and communication equipment were badly damaged from gun shots by the terrorists.

“The troops have continued to intensify vigilance and high level of alertness following concerted efforts of clearing the remnants of the terrorists”.

 

 

premiumtimesng.com

Kenyan authorities on Monday issued a terror alert after locals reported an alleged sighting of more than 40 heavily-armed Al-Shabaab militants in the coastal town of Lamu.

Regional police commander, Francis Wanjohi, said the militants were spotted near Milimani and Basuba areas by local residents.

Wanjohi said they have reinforced already existing police camps in Lamu to avert any terrorist attacks.

“We received credible intelligence that the Al-Shabaab (militants) were spotted moving towards Lamu to stage attacks and alerted our security agents about their presence to prevent any attacks,” said Wanjohi.

A multi-agency team has been deployed to Lamu to deal with the militants, Wanjohi said.

Kenyan troops have also involved in pursuing the suspected Al-Shabaab militants, believed to be hiding in the Boni Forest, east of Lamu near Kenya-Somalia border.

The alert comes five days after four Al-Shabaab militants were gunned down by Kenyan troops in Lamu county.

The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab Islamist group has carried out several deadly attacks in Kenya in recent years.

The U.S. last week issued a new travel advisory, warning its citizens of security threats in Kenya’s northeastern and coastal regions.

 

 

 

xinhuanet.com

Just over a year ago, he was a civil servant living in a comfortable house in Burundi with his wife and five children. Today Emmanuel Karikurubu lives as a refugee in a dusty side street in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. He is fluent in English, an intelligent and well-educated man, but he’s jobless. When asked about his hopes for the futures, he simply says: “I take one day at a time”. Just being alive is enough.

Karikurubu fled his home in Burundi last year after the country spiralled into violence. With government militia forces chanting in the streets about raping the daughters and wives of enemies, he feared for the safety of his four daughters. If anything happened to his daughters he would kill the men who hurt them, he said.

Karikurubu is one of more than a quarter of a million refugees who have left Burundi after president Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for an unconstitutional third term in office triggered protests and demonstrations, which led to a security crackdown and the ruling party unleashing its feared militia youth wing – the Imbonerakure. More than 450 people have been killed, according to estimates.

Last week the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned of a “very real prospect of an escalation in ethnic violence” in Burundi, which has an ethnic Hutu majority and Tutsi minority. The Hutus are in government and many of their supporters see Tutsis like Karikurubu as targets.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein raised concerns over cases of arbitrary arrests, detention and torture and ex-officers of the defunct armed forces being killed because of their Tutsi ethnicity. He also highlighted school children being arrested for scribbling on pictures of the president in textbooks and reports of speeches by the Imbonerakure inciting violence against political opponents, with “strong ethnic overtones”.

Burundi’s government has rejected his accusations, but the crisis has chilling echoes of the run up to Rwanda genocide in 1994, in which extremist Hutus massacred around 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus.

Many who fled from Burundi are in refugee camps in neighbouring countries – there are more than 48,000 in the Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda alone – but others arranged their own temporary accommodation believing the unrest would end after a few months and they would be able to go home.

One year on, these urban refugees who rely on small savings or the support of family and friends, are facing an increasingly desperate struggle to get by. It is, however, better than the horrors they left behind.

Karikurubu, 53, whose wife is Rwandan, left Burundi last June with his family fearing for the safety of hisfour daughters who range in age from five to 19-years-old.

“Where I was living the groups supporting the ruling party were very active and there was much violence against women happening,” he says.

“The militia were singing songs which had the words: ‘We will rape your daughters and your wife. They will be impregnated and produce the sons and daughters of Imbonerakure’.”

“I had to escort my daughters when they went to school or their jobs in the centre of town.”

Karikurubu says the day before he left Burundi, he was told of a case involving a 16-year-old girl who was kidnapped by the government intelligence services, then tied to a bed and raped for a week.

Despite her father being a colonel in the army no-one would help, he says, because the colonel was a Tutsi – and her captors were Hutus from the ruling party.

Another classmate of one of his daughters was kidnapped and raped by the intelligence police, he said, with sexual violence being used as a “political weapon” to show the power of the ruling party.

“That is one of the main reasons I left Burundi, because my daughters are at such risk,” he says.

“I am not sure I could stay calm in that situation. I fear I would myself become a killer.”

For Karikurubu, the situation has alarming echoes of genocides of the past – both in Burundi and Rwanda – with ethnic differences being used by the government as a tool to spread divisions.

After the 1993 genocide in Burundi, some Tutsi survivors were placed in a protected camp for internally displaced people, where they remain till this day. There are reports of militia forces now training around the camp and taunting the survivors saying “now we will finish you, it is time to finish you off.”

Karikurubu says like the Rwanda genocide of 1994, the international community is ignoring what is happening.

“It is the same situation that was in Rwanda in 1994,” he says. “Everyone knows, they see, but nothing is done, because it is not in the interests of big people to help Burundi.”

He says his children are now trying to settle down in Rwanda, but trying to adapt to a new home has been difficult.

“The week after we arrived here, there was a public demonstration and my youngest daughter saw the police,” he says. “She came running inside the house and dived under the table – she thinks police are killers, the militia especially did many bad things in front of children.

“Here there is no fear of such incidents and that is very important to people from our country. But it is very hard for me and my family to start a new life. You cannot make plans, so we are living just day by day.”

Jean Paul, who does not want his real named to be used, was a prominent member of an opposition party in Burundi. He initially sent his wife and three-year-old daughter to safety in Rwanda, but says “as a man, I didn’t see how I could close my door and leave my home.”

However after being captured and tortured by the intelligence service, he managed to flee over the border to Rwanda last June.

“Even at the border I met the Imbonerakure, they followed me,” he explains. “But I ran and ran and I succeeded in crossing the border.

“The policemen of Rwanda welcomed me. On the other side the Imbonerakure were saying to me ‘if you try to come back, we will kill you.”

Jean Paul, 37, who studied English literature at university and worked for a children’s charity in Burundi, has been unable to find work in Kigali. The family live in a tiny ramshackle house, which is accessed by a steep dirt path behind a carpentry workshop. His wife works nightshift in a restaurant to support them. He says “staying at home, waiting for food” is difficult when he has been used to working.

“I had to leave everything behind in the house,” he says. “I have to start from the beginning again.”

Jean Paul says they have been welcomed in Rwanda and feel safe – but still fears the Imbonerakure. He tells of a recent story of a former politician from Burundi who had fled to Rwanda, but was then poisoned by members of the militia who tracked him down.

“That is a danger you can believe,” he says. “Here we sleep and we have security – but we know they still want to kill you.”

He adds: “My life here is not a good life. I can tell you I am in desperation. I used to be someone who was creative. One year is over and I still don’t have something to do – it is not good.”

Maria, who wanted to remain anonymous, is also struggling to adapt to her new life in Kigali, where she has been living since May last year. She sits in a sparse room, with a small pile of toys in the corner for her three children – twin girls aged five and another girl who is nearly two. She is wearing a beautiful tartan dress and tells how she used to work in a bank. Now, she points out wryly, she has to sit on the floor when visitors are present as there are not enough chairs.

She explains how she fled her home in Burundi with just a bag of clothes after becoming increasingly fearful at the deteriorating situation. Her husband is still living and working in Burundi to support them and can only risk visiting occasionally – he may be arrested and killed if it is discovered he is travelling across to Rwanda.

“He uses one route, but the next time he has to use another route,” she says. “When they know he is always crossing to Rwanda then he can be killed.

“If he can’t come then he tries to send some money for us to survive. He stayed there because we had no choice in order to survive.”

It has been over a month since she last saw him. Maria breaks down in tears when asked how difficult being separated from her husband is “I don’t know what I can say,” she says. “It is very hard.

“It is not easy to live without my husband, when he is here you feel protected, there are so many times you really need emotional support, you need help providing care to the children.

“At times they come to me and say ‘can you give me this mummy’ – but you cannot give them it. The life they were used to is totally different.”

Maria says she feels far safer in Rwanda and does get support from fellow Burundian refugees. But when asked about her hopes for the future, she struggles to remain positive.

“I can only trust to God – only God knows,” she says. “I came here expecting to stay for just a short time, but now I have been here more than one year.”

The charity Tearfund is working to provide trauma counselling to Burundian refugees in Rwanda and connecting refugee families with others in communities.

They also have a partner agency working in the Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda, with staff supporting new arrivals through providing meals and cooking materials and essential items such as mattresses, blankets, buckets, jerry cans and sanitation products.

Despite the dangers, Tearfund is also still working with partner agencies in Burundi itself to tackle the problem of both children and new and expectant mother experiencing severe malnutrition.

Emmanuel Murangira, Tearfund’s country representative for Burundi and Rwanda, said: “The current situation in Burundi has seen over a quarter of a million people displaced from their homes over the past year, and many more living in fear and uncertainty of what the future holds.

“At Tearfund we are responding to those who are in greatest need as a result of the ongoing crisis – providing hot meals and bare essentials to many who have travelled for days and are far from home, tired and hungry.

“We are also working particularly closely with the most vulnerable people in the refugee camps such as young children, pregnant mothers and the elderly, to ensure they have the sustenance they need to get through each day.”

 

 

heraldscotland.com