Four people were killed and six injured in a suicide attack on a police headquarters in Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday, officials said.

An explosion at the offices of the traffic police in Abdiaziz district killed two police officers and two militants were shot dead, police official Mohamed Hassan said.

An eyewitness told Anadolu Agency that a violent explosion was followed by an intense exchange of gunfire for around five minutes. Flames were seen rising above the police premises.

Abdelfattah Omar Halni, spokesman for the city authorities, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber with an explosive belt.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but similar attacks have been carried out by al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked terror group.

thepeninsulaqatar.com/

As the ‘Operation Crackdown’ continues the routing of Boko Haram insurgents from their hideouts, three leaders of the sect, along with four others have surrendered to the troop in Borno State.

One of the statements issued in Abuja by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (Ag.DAPR), Col. Sani Usman disclosed that apart from the three leaders, Hamidu Buba, Musa Buba and Ali Idrissa, quite a number of Boko Haram terrorists have continued to surrender, adding that on Friday alone, seven individuals from Balazala and Ahamdaga Makaranta villages in the Dure district owned up to be members of Boko Haram sect.

The suspects added that they have participated in various attacks on many villages and towns. They further stated that the ongoing crackdown operation is really taking its toll on them as they can barely survive.

On another front, troops of 121 Task Force Battalion on Friday, intercepted 35 civilians, comprising six men, seven women, 22 minors ( seven males and 15 females), who claimed to be coming from Balaganje village. However, preliminary investigation revealed that they had been living in Balaganje as captives by Boko Haram terrorists who threatened to kill them if they attempted to escape. Investigation of the supposedly rescued hostages is ongoing so as to sieve and know if there are concealing their real identities.

Also in furtherance of ‘Operation Crackdown’, Troops of 26 and 223, Battalions, Army Headquarters’ Strike Group and Armed Forces Special Forces have continued offensive, clearing Boko Haram elements in Izza and Njima areas, where the insurgents had already fled the impending onslaught.

Leaving behind fresh footprints, motorcycle and bicycle tyre marks in the seemingly abandoned places. The Troops, however, came across and recovered eight abandoned vehicles belonging to Boko Haram terrorists.

“The advancing troops also cleared all Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts along the way, including their camps at Bula Buba and its environs, where they recovered one Hilux, one Canter truck, 15 AK47 rifle magazines, a 60mm High Explosive Bomb, 200 G3 rifle magazines, three Browning Machine Gun tripod stands and a 60mm mortar bipod stand. Others include several metal links of 7.62mm (NATO) and 12.mm ammunitions.”

thebreakingtimes.com

The US administration is seeking to approve a sale of as many as 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for Nigeria to aid its battle against the extremist group Boko Haram, US officials said.

The officials said while speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s plans in a vote of confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari’s drive to reform the country’s corruption-tainted military.

Washington also is dedicating more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to the campaign against the Islamist militants in the region and plans to provide additional training to Nigerian infantry forces.

The possible sale which the officials said was favored within the US administration but is subject to review by Congress underscores the deepening US involvement in helping governments in North and West Africa fight extremist groups.

US Navy Vice Admiral, Michael Franken, a Deputy Commander of the Pentagon’s Africa Command, told a Washington forum last week that there now are 6,200 US troops most of them Special Operations Forces, operating from 26 locations on the continent.

The widening US military cooperation is a political victory for Buhari, who took office last year pledging to crack down on the rampant corruption that has undermined the armed forces in Africa’s most populous country.

“The Buhari administration I think has really reenergised the bilateral relationship in a fundamental way,” another US official said.

The previous Nigerian government of Goodluck Jonathan had scorned the US for blocking arms sales partly because of human rights concerns. It also criticized Washington for failing to speed the sharing of intelligence.

The souring relations hit a low at the end of 2014 when US military training of Nigerian forces was abruptly halted.

That is changing under Buhari, whose crackdown on corruption has led to a raft of charges against top national security officials in the previous government.

punchng.com

More than 30 people have been killed in an ongoing intercommunal conflict between the Fulani and Bambara communities in Mali’s central Mopti region, a civil society leader said.

Oumar Aldjana, representative for Mali’s Union of Fulani, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that 33 Fulani civilians have been killed in the conflict so far. He also said clashes were still ongoing.

According to Aldjana, the conflict started after a Bambara local administrative official was killed by a Fulani in the West African nation, population 14.5 million.

In retaliation, relatives of the victim attacked the family of the perpetrators, Aldjana said, urging Malian authorities to take action immediately.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) told a press conference that “several” had died in the clashes, without giving exact numbers.

MINUSMA also said that it has commissioned a team of human rights and civil affairs experts “to get to the scene of the clashes for the purposes of gathering facts and investigation”.

Mali’s ministers of solidarity and humanitarian action and national reconciliation are already on the scene, they said.

“The initiative of senior Malian officials aims to calm tensions, support the families of victims, and address the facts,” Aldjana added.

Tensions between the two communities are common in Mali, but the violence had escalated due to the recent terrorist threat.

These confrontations are often the result of conflicting claims of land; the Fulani are pastoralist trading people, while the Bambara are farmers.

aa.com.tr/

Pro-Islamic State Somali militants have grown in numbers and are receiving financial and military support from Yemen, a top intelligence official told the VOA Somali Service.

Abdi Hassan Hussein, the former Director of the U.S.-backed Puntland Intelligence Agency (PIA) said when the pro-IS Somali faction was founded in October last year it had about 20-30 men, but has since set up training camps and recruited more fighters. He said the group’s fighters now number between 100-150 fighters. “They have graduated their first units and they have received their military supplies,” he said.

Hussein led PIA until a year ago when he was replaced. His main job was to detect militant threats and plan counter-terrorism operations.

He said Islamic State has welcomed its Somalia branch and has started delivering supplies through their affiliate faction in Yemen.

“They received military supplies from Yemen – weapons, uniform, ISIS sent trainers who inspected their bases, and they have started sending financial support,” he said. “The weapons’ shipment was delivered by sea from Mukallah city in Hadramouth, it has arrived from the Red Sea coast of Somalia in February and March this year.”

Hussein pointed to a recent video posted by the group that he said shows the group received new uniforms. He said there is also evidence that the group has received financial support from Islamic State. “Evidence of financial support can be seen in the area; they are buying supplies, they are buying vehicles, they bought livestock, they invested in the community by delivering water supplies to nearby community affected by the drought,” he said.

Hussein said reports he has received indicate administrations in Somalia have underestimated the threat of the pro-IS group led by former al-Shabab cleric Abdulkadir Mumin. He criticized the Somali government and regional administrations for not taking the threat seriously. He said Islamic State will pose tougher challenge than al-Shabab. “Daesh is more dangerous than al-Shabab. They are known for committing large scale destruction. They have more finance. They have more impact. They declared to start attacks within Somalia, and they readied units to carry out attacks.”

He said the faction now has a base in Al Bari Mountains in Puntland, where it gives training and has erected a flag used by Islamic State militants.  He said the base also provides logistics, and has cemented connections with Yemen.

He said opportunity was missed to neutralize the group at early stage. “It would have been better to destroy them when they were 20 or 30 men, before they adapted to the environment; but now the terrorists got used to the climate, they secured access to water wells, routes, and hiding places, “ he said. “Now to defeat them would require the same resources and effort that was placed against al-Shabab.”

The Somali military this week said they destroyed a training camp by pro-IS Somali and foreign militants in Jannaale town area, about 120 kilometers south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. It followed after Islamic State for the first time claimed credit for an attack against African Union forces just outside Mogadishu last month.

Hussein said the government and African Union troops can’t win against al-Shabab or IS factions militarily, and urged them to confront the groups ideologically. “The youth they are sending are assets, but misguided; they need to be saved from harming the people and harming themselves,” he said.

“They need to be confronted ideologically, they need to be shown different ideology, given an opportunity to leave the group, given protection against prosecution from the government and retaliatory attacks from Al-Shabab if they decide to leave group. We need to create opportunities for the youth,” Hussein said.

voanews.com

Pro-government militia killed four members of the Peuhl ethnic group in central Mali and then struck again at the funeral, killing nine more victims, a local community group said Wednesday.

The attacks mark the latest violence targeting members of the Peuhl community, who have been accused of collaborating with Islamic extremist groups active in the area.

Sekou Bah, the secretary-general of a group called Dental Wuwarbe, said four victims were killed over the weekend while eating at a restaurant. The next day nine more Peuhls were fatally shot while at the cemetery for the burial, he said.

A spokesman for Mali’s security minister says investigators are looking into the reports of the 13 killed.

“We sent a team of investigators two days ago to shed light on this incident and for the moment we are awaiting the results,” said spokesman Amadou Sangho.

In addition to the violence blamed on pro-government militias, local Peuhl groups also have accused the Malian military of arresting, torturing and killing civilians.

Ethnic Peuhls are accused of supporting an extremist group known as the Macina Liberation Front, which has been carrying out attacks in central Mali. The violence has worried residents because it represents an escalation in extremism much further south.

Northern Mali fell under the control of al-Qaida and other extremists in 2012. A French-led military offensive forced them from the region’s main cities and towns the following year, but they have since regrouped to launch scores of attacks on peacekeepers and soldiers. Al-Qaida militants also carried out a major attack on a hotel in Mali’s capital late last year, killing 20 people.

ap.org

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday evening disclosed that over 56,000 Nigerians are currently taking refuge in neighbouring Cameroon because of the activities of the Boko Haram sect in the North Eastern part of the country.

He said he was saddened by the terror unleashed by the sect on the country which he said led to the killing of 20,000 people.

Buhari spoke at a state banquet he hosted in honour of visiting President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, and his wife, Chantal, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President said his administration was working day and night to rebuild destroyed facilities in the North Eastern part of the country so that the Nigerian refugees could be brought back home as soon as possible.

“I assure you that as soon as data on IDPs are ready, we will bring you back home safely,” the President said.

While listing some of the achievements of the nation’s security forces against the sect, Buhari said there was no longer a hiding place for terrorists in Nigeria.

Describing Cameroon and Nigeria as two nations that have come a long way, the President said the two countries had always embraced peace and dialogue.

He also commended the crucial role Cameroon is playing in the multinational force established to tackle insurgency.

He described his visit to Cameroon last year as the most memorable of his foreign trips, adding that nobody complained about the trip.

Biya, who spoke through an interpreter, described Buhari’s trip to Cameroon last year as a turning point in the history of the two nations.

He described Boko Haram as a common enemy of the two nations with its goals running contrary to the aspirations of our people.

He expressed his wish to see the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State rescued soon.

He promised to continue to take care of the Nigerian refugees residing in Cameroon.

The Cameroonian President expressed delight at the achievements of Nigerian security agencies against the Boko Haram insurgents and expressed the conviction that the sect no longer had destructive power.

He stressed the need for more consultations to improve the economic relations between the two countries.

“We are at the beginning of a new era in the relationship between our countries as evidenced in our discussions today and the agreements we signed today. I am delighted,” Biya said.

The state banquet was attended by wife of the President, Aisha; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife, Dolapo; the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and his wife; the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Muhammed; governors of Taraba, Cross River and Adamawa States, ministers and other top government officials.

punchng.com

Kenyan police has foiled a ‘large scale biological terrorist attack’ after arresting three members of an ISIS-linked terror group.

Three people, a married couple and a woman, allegedly planned ‘large-scale attacks’ including ‘a biological attack in Kenya using anthrax,’ Kenyan police said.

Married medical students Mohammed Abdi Ali and Nuseiba Mohammed Haji were arrested along with Fatuma Mohammed Hanshi, after police connected them to a terrorist network.

Ali,  Haji and Hansi are allegedly part of ‘an East Africa terror group network, that has links to ISIS,’ according to Kenya police chief Joseph Boinnet.

Both Ali, the alleged leader of the group, and his wife Haji worked as ‘medical interns’ while studying medicine at university.

‘Ali has been engaged in the active radicalisation,recruitment of university students and other Kenyan youth intoterrorism networks,’ a police statement said.

The terror network linked to Ali ‘has been facilitating Kenyan youths to secretly leave Kenya to join terror groups in Libya and Syria,’ the statement added.

Ali, from Wote, southeast of the capital Nairobi, was arrested in Kenya and is being held in custody for 30 days while investigators gather further evidence.

dailymail.co.uk

Al-Shabaab militants fired mortar rounds at a military base in Halane belonging to the African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia (AMISOM) on Monday night.

AMISOM force spokesman, Joe Kibet confirmed the incident on Tuesday, saying three mortar shells landed outside Halane military base, AU’s main station near Mogadishu International Airport in Wadajir district in Benadir region.

“There were three mortar shells that hit our base from outside, but it did not cause any casualties. We are working with Somalia National Army (SNA) to establish if there were any civilian casualties,” Kibet told Xinhua.

However, Kibet did not say whether the pan African body’s troops responded to such attacks by the militants.

Al-Shabab militants claimed to have carried out the heavy attack against AU base in Mogadishu. The Islamist militant group claimed they dropped seven mortar shells into the base at midnight.

This is the first attack in which AU base in Mogadishu has come under terrorist attack from Al-Shabaab militants.

Somali National Army backed by the AU troops removed Al-Shabaab militants from the capital Mogadishu in 2011, but the group tries to undermine peace and stability by staging several attacks in many towns in the south and central Somalia.

xinhuanet.com

Gunmen opened fire on a car in which Nigeria’s leading prelate was riding, but the prelate survived the attack unharmed.

The attack on Cardinal John Onaiyekan took place on April 30 near Ehor, according to the Abuja-based Daily Trust.

The cardinal’s driver told the newspaper that “three men came out of the palm tree plantation by the road side and started shooting at the vehicle … the bullets shattered the left passenger window glass and made huge holes on the panel of the door. We just thank God that nothing happened to the cardinal or any of us in the vehicle.”

“We are using this opportunity to appeal to the president to provide adequate security to the people of Edo State,” said a local prelate, Archbishop Augustine Akubueze. “We need security, and we are demanding that from our government.”