vanguardngr.com

The Nigerian Army on Tuesday issued a final warning to Boko Haram terrorists operating in the northeast part of the country.

“We wish to inform them that we are aware of all their hideouts, camps and enclaves. They should follow their colleagues who have so far surrendered,” Col. Sani Usman, a spokesperson for the Army said in a statement reaching Xinhua.

The military statement said failure to surrender will result in serious consequences as troops have closed up on them.

“We equally appeal to members of the international community and the world at large, to kindly persuade the Boko Haram terrorists and their international collaborators to desist from acts of terrorism,” the statement added.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered military chiefs to end the insurgency of Boko Haram in the most populous African country by December.

Boko Haram, fighting against the government to create an Islamic state, has carried out waves of bombings in the northern region and capital city of Nigeria over the years.

No fewer than 30 members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were killed in a gun duel with Nigerian troops assisted by the local vigilantes in the early hours of yesterday at the border villages between Adamawa and Borno states.

This came as Boko Haram members on Sunday invaded Gwoza local government area of Borno State, killing nine people and destroying houses.

On the Adamaa incident, Nigerian troops had laid an ambush on the insurgents between the border villages of Kirchinga and Imirsa, which had come under attacks of Boko Haram insurgents in recent times, leading to the death of innocent residents.

A local vigilante operative who participated in the campaign, told Vanguard that following intelligence report about the movement of the Boko Haram insurgents, an ambush was laid for them which resulted in the killing of many of the insurgents.

“Following information about the movements of the Boko Haram insurgents we got, we decided to lay an ambush in the wee hours of Monday.

“Our efforts yielded results as we succeeded in killing over 30 of the insurgents after a fierce gun duel.

“We confiscated many weapons from the invading terrorists, including AK 47 assault rifles, bows and arrows and other dangerous weapons,” the source said.

The onslaught against the insurgents followed increased attacks on parts of Madagali local government area, leading to the death of three soldiers and abduction of one senior military officer alongside his operational vehicle.

A vigilante operative had told Vanguard that Boko Haram insurgents had disguised as local vigilante operatives and in the process, killed unsuspecting residents and soldiers.

“The insurgents who disguised as local vigilante mounted road blocks across the highway and pretended to be carrying out routine checks.

“The soldiers were lured into the booby trap of the insurgents who immediately swooped on them and killed three soldiers and abducted one of the soldiers,” the source said.

In a similar vein, reports from Kirchinga village in Madagali local government area of Adamawa State indicated that a fierce gun duel was taking place between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram insurgents who launched attack on the village weekend.

Confirming the incident, member representing Madagali/Michika Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Adamu Kamale, called on the federal government to deploy more troops to safeguard lives and properties.

Meanwhile, suspected group of Boko Haram sect on Sunday invaded Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, killing nine persons and destroying houses.

Sources said, however, that scores of the insurgents met their Waterloo as military operatives in Gwoza town repelled the attack much later.

The terrorists, according to another source, also wounded many people after looting their foodstuff, including livestock, and fled without confrontation from the armless villagers.

Sunday is a market day where a few persons from surrounding villages of Limankara and other communities patronize the town for businesses.

Gwoza was declared as an Islamic Caliphate by the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau last year when his fighters seized the town which is south and about 150kms drive from Maiduguri, the state capital.

After the deadly attacks and taken over of Gwoza by the terrorists last year, including Limankara village, no fewer than 40 policemen undergoing training at the Limankara Mobile Training Camp were declared missing.

A few of them were reported to have been located and rescued, with over 30 still missing at the time of this report.

Reliable sources told Vanguard that with the liberation of Gwoza by military troops early this year, many fleeing residents returned to the town and other surrounding villages to pick up their pieces, before another group of terrorists launched fresh attacks on the town, killing nine and injuring scores.

The source added that just last week, there was a failed attempt by insurgents on Gwoza town, but they were repelled by the military, living unspecified number of the terrorists dead and recovery of their arms and ammunition.

On the recent attacks on Gwoza, another source who was on his way to Gwoza from Maiduguri at the time of the attack had to spend the night at Limankara, stating that he was compelled to do so because the military had blocked the only existing Madagali- Limankaa- Gwoza road.

The source said he was on his way to Gwoza with a truck of cement and other building materials for sale, following relative peace witnessed recently in the town, but had no option than to spent the night at Limankara before moving back to Madagali town of Adamawa.

All effort to get confirmation from the Police Commissioner, Mr. Aderemi Opadokun did not yield positive result as his phone lines were not reachable at press time.

vanguardngr.com

U.S. armoured vehicles have been deployed in Cameroon to help the country fight the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, a senior Cameroonian military officer based in Maroua of the Far-North Region said.

The vehicles have arrived in the country less than a week after U.S. President Barack Obama announced a decision to send 300 troops, along with surveillance drones to Cameroon in order to enhance the nation’s effort to counter the terrorist group.

The officer said some members of U.S. troops deployed in the Central African Republic are also expected in the region, who will train the Cameroon defence forces on making good use of the armoured vehicles.

The islamist Boko Haram sect has been using mostly young girls as suicide bombers in the Far-North Region of Cameroon. Its many other attacks along the western border of the country has also forced close to 200,000 farmers and business operators to move further inland for peace and security.

Over 30 members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were killed in a gun duel with Nigerian troops assisted by local vigilantes yesterday morning.

Nigerian troops with the assistance of local vigilantes had laid an ambush for the insurgents between the border villages of Kirchinga/Imirsa which came under Boko Haram attacks in recent times leading to the death of innocent residents.

A local vigilante operative who participated in the campaign told our reporter that following intelligence report about the movement of the Boko Haram insurgents, an ambush was laid which resulted in the killing of many Boko Haram members.

“Following information about the movements of the Boko Haram we got, we decided to lay an ambush in the early hours of Sunday. Our efforts yielded results as we succeeded in killing over 30 of the insurgents after a fierce gun duel.

“We confiscated many weapons from the invading terrorists, including AK 47 assault rifles, bows and arrows and other dangerous weapons,” the source said.

The onslaught against the insurgents followed increased attacks on parts of Madagali local government leading to the death of three soldiers and the abduction of one senior military officer alongside his operational vehicle.

A vigilante operative had told our reporter that Boko Haram insurgents have disguised as local vigilante operatives in the process killing unsuspecting residents and soldiers.

“The insurgents who disguised as local vigilante mounted road blocks across the highway and pretended to be carrying out routine checks. The soldiers were lured into the booby trap of the insurgents who immediately swooped on them and killed three soldiers and abducted one of the soldiers,” the source said.

In a similar vein, reports from Kirchinga village in Madagali Local Government of Adamawa State indicated that a fierce gun duel was taking place between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram insurgents who launched attack on the village on Saturday afternoon.

Confirming the incident, member representing Madagali/Michika Federal constituency Hon. Adamu Kamale called on the federal government to deploy more troops to safeguard life and property.

Governor Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow assured residents of the affected communities that the state government will continue to support the civilian JTF and local vigilante groups to fight the insurgents.

Efforts to reach the Army PRO for comments by the time of filing this report were abortive as his numbers were switched off.

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The Somali army destroyed a major camp of the Islamic extremist group Al Shabab near the town of Diinsoor, southwest of the country, today said a military source

Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, a spokesman for the troops government said that in the heavy fighting that took place in Bay region, 4 fundamentalist rebels died and no casualties were reported among the soldiers.

On Tuesday the Somali army attacked positions of Al Shabab and regained Gandershe Control and Amara, cities located in the southern region of Lower Shabelle.

A week before these forces it launched an operation against the group in Hudur area bordering Ethiopia.

Al Shabab, which official name is Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM) or Islamic Youth Movement, emerged in the middle the chaos in Somalia in 1991 after the fall of the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre.

It aims to create an Islamic emirate based on the strictest interpretation of Sharia or Islamic law in February 2012 and announced its alliance with Al Qaeda.

Two suicide bombings at a mosque on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 30 people, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

The first blast occurred on Thursday in the mosque at Mulai during evening prayers and the second after residents rushed to the scene to help victims, Mohammed Kanar, the coordinator of the agency, said by phone on Friday.

“We are still compiling the figures of the injured though we identified seven in a critical condition,” Kanar said.

Niger Republic has imposed a state of emergency on the South-Eastern region of Diffa where 40 people were killed in recent attacks blamed on the Insurgent group Boko Haram.

A statement by the Nigerien Authorities on Thursday said that the 15-day state of emergency would allow authorities to beef up security, impose a curfew and restrict the movement of goods and people.

It would be recalled that the government instituted similar measures in February.
Niger, Cameroon and Chad have all suffered a spillover of violence from Boko Haram’s northern Nigerian strongholds and Niger has arrested at least 1,100 suspected Boko Haram militants this year.