The Defence Headquarters has confirmed that some Boko Haram terrorists had relocated to the North-West and North-Central where they operate as bandits, like reported by ripplesnigeria.com.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, who disclosed this on Thursday said the terrorists were fleeing intense land and air offensives against their hideouts and camps in the North East.

He stated this as Defence Headquarters adding, that 104 bandits and 92 Boko Haram terrorists were eliminated during several encounters with troops in several military operations in the North East and North West in the last one week.

He added that its maritime component also de-activated 17 illegal refinery sites in the South-South, particularly at Agor-Illa, Warri South West LGA, while Operation Delta Safe through NNS Delta and NNS Pathfinder impounded 565,000 litres of suspected illegally refined AGO.

According to Enenche, the type of weaponry found with the bandits, such as anti-aircraft gun, PKT gun, capable of shooting down an aircraft, suggested that some of the terrorists in the North-East might have relocated to the North-West and North-Central.

He said, “In the past, the highest weapon found among bandits was the GPMG guns and AK 47 rifles because what they are known for is stealing of cows and rams. But now, they are in possession of AA and PKT guns which can be used to bring down an aircraft.

“It is no hidden fact that these are weapons used by Boko Haram terrorists, got from neighbouring West African countries.’’

There have been concerns over the withdrawal of military from checkpoints across the country. The fear being expressed by many is that the development is capable of opening the way for terrorists and bandits fleeing military offensives to freely relocate to other parts of the country.

But Enenche said the action of military was due to complaints of Nigerians, chiefly during the COVID-19 lockdown.

He, meanwhile, said that the action would be reviewed and reconsidered.

He said, “But other than the checkpoints, the military still conducts snap checks on the roads to ensure criminal elements don’t have freedom of movement. It is not that the military is completely withdrawn.’’

On update on military operations across the country, he said, “The troops of Operation Lafiya Dole have continued to exhibit sustained resilience in the fight against terrorism in the North East zone of the Country.

‘’This has been evident in their recent encounters with the BHT/ISWAP elements across the North East theatre of operation. During the period, troops’ encounters with the criminal elements resulted in the destruction of their structures and equipment, as well as the capture of arms and ammunition.

“Our gallant troops also rescued some hostages, with some criminal elements surrendering to the troops. Within the period, the ground troops of Operation Lafiya Dole had no fewer than 17 encounters with the BHT/ISWAP criminals in the North East theatre of operation.

“These encounters resulted in the killing of 75 BHT/ISWAP fighters, capture of large arms and ammunition, as well as vehicles and equipment. Also recorded were the capture of some criminal elements and spies as well as rescue of 35 BHT captives, while four of their fighters surrendered to our troops.

“Between June 2 and 3, 2020, the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole conducted comprehensive precision strikes, to mark the launching of its subsidiary Operation Long Reach II on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State.”

Local officials in central Mali are calling on the government to deploy additional troops to the restive region following several attacks that targeted civilians last week, like reported by voanews.com.

The simultaneous attacks, which killed at least 30 civilians, took place in four villages of the Bankass region last Wednesday, local officials said.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, local officials have blamed jihadists for carrying out the deadly assaults.

“These attacks were conducted by the jihadists,” said Allaye Guindo, mayor of Bankass. “They came from Baye, a village on the border between Mali and Burkina Faso, to carry out these attacks in the Bankass municipality.”

Guindo told VOA that 33 villagers, including women and children, were killed in the attacks. The victims were all from the Dogon ethnic group, he said.

The mayor added that the attacks have forced hundreds of villagers to leave their homes, fearing that armed groups could launch new attacks.

Increased violence

Deadly clashes between the ethnic Fulani and Dogon communities have increased in recent months.

The United Nations said in a report last month that violence in central Mali has killed about 600 civilians this year.

The conflict in Mali began in 2012 when a separatist uprising in the north was largely taken over by al-Qaida affiliates. Since then, thousands of civilians and military personnel have been killed.

Violence reached central Mali in 2015 when Islamist militant groups moved from north to central Mali.

The U.N. has a peacekeeping mission in the country, while France maintains an ongoing military campaign against the insurgents.

The U.N. Security Council last week renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, for one more year. MINUSMA currently has about 15,000 personnel in Mali.

Troops ambushed

Guindo called on the central government in Bamako and its international partners to act quickly to bring an end to the growing violence in the central part of the West African country.

Malian authorities said they have responded to last week’s attacks by sending a military unit to the region.

One day after the attacks, Malian soldiers were deployed to Gouari, one of the targeted villages, after receiving information about a new attack, a military spokesman said.

“When (they) arrived at around 8 p.m., the village seemed deserted. There were practically no signs of life,” army spokesman Col. Diarran Kone told the Agence France-Presse news agency last week.

“Just at the entrance, the FAMA (Malian Armed Forces) walked into an ambush,” he said, adding that “nine (soldiers) died and two were injured, and equipment was also destroyed.”

‘Multidimensional’ conflict

Bakary Sambe, a security expert at the Timbuktu Institute in Dakar, Senegal, calls the crisis in central Mali “multidimensional.”

“It would be simplistic to interpret it only through the prism of jihadist-motivated violence,” he told VOA. “It would also be simplistic to see it as a simple ethnic issue, since Fulani and Dogon have lived together for centuries.”

Sambe said the real problem is the failure of the security governance system that took the risk of countering the insurgency by creating local ethnic-based militias.

Experts believe that deep-rooted conflicts over resources in northern and central Mali have been exploited by extremist and criminal groups to exacerbate the violence.

“The Malian state should first cut off terrorist networks from their local incubators and undertake an inclusive dialogue based on local conflict resolution mechanisms,” Sambe asserted.

In an effort to end the conflict, the government of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced in February it had been in talks with the main jihadist groups in Mali.

The Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), an alliance of several extremist factions, is the main group that is active in parts of Mali. The group has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida.

The talks, however, seem to have reached a stalemate since jihadists insist that France pull out its troops from Mali as a condition to continue the negotiations.

Sambe said a genuine stabilization policy in Mali is needed with the help of the international community.

“It will be necessary to go beyond mere repression and even explore the paths of transitional justice, knowing that the future of this region cannot be built on revenge and reprimands,” he said.

Islamic extremists opened fire on a U.N. aid helicopter in northeastern Nigeria over the weekend, killing two civilians in an escalation of hostilities in the long troubled region, like reported by abcnews.go.com.

President Muhammadu Buhari blamed the attack on militants linked to the extremist group Boko Haram, and warned Sunday evening it “would not go without severe consequences.”

“Boko Haram terrorists are clearly on the back foot and their increasing attacks on innocent civilians, including U.N. humanitarian workers, is part of their desperation to prove that they are strong in order to cover up their dwindling fortunes,” the president said in a statement.

Security has long been a concern for aid groups operating in northeastern Nigeria, where humanitarian workers have been been kidnapped and killed amid Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Saturday attack, though it comes not long after a splinter faction of Boko Haram warned civilians that they could be targeted if they helped humanitarian groups or the military. The splinter group previously was not known to target Muslim civilians as part of its insurgency against the government.

Edward Kallon, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said the victims included a 5-year-old child. The crew members were not hurt and there were no aid workers on board when bullets hit the helicopter in Borno state.

“The U.N. Humanitarian Air Service is essential to evacuate wounded civilians and remains the backbone to facilitating humanitarian access,” he said.

Some 1.9 million people have been displaced by the jihadist violence in northeastern Nigeria, and the U.N. World Food Program is now warning that a total of 3 million people are facing hunger.

At least 32 civilians were killed in central Mali when unidentified armed men on motorbikes attacked ethnic Dogon farming villages on Wednesday, local authorities said.

The attackers targeted four villages in Mopti region, which has seen dozens of tit-for-tat ethnic massacres as well as jihadist raids over the past few years.

Moulaye Guindo, the mayor of the commune of Bankass, released a list of victims on Thursday that put the death toll at 32.

Other officials in the area told Reuters they believed the attacks were carried out by jihadists, who often say they are defending Fulani herders against rival Dogon farmers.

“Quite a lot of armed men attacked the village (of Gouari), firing at people. Fifteen bodies were buried this morning. There are also wounded,” a local official said by phone earlier on Thursday, requesting anonymity for security reasons.

No group has claimed responsibility for the violence, which took place in an area around 30 km (19 miles) from the border with Burkina Faso.

A spokesman for the Malian army could not be reached for comment. The army has been criticised by rights groups and residents for failing to protect civilians in central Mali.

An undisclosed number of Boko Haram fighters have been killed as Military fighter jets bombard their meeting venue at Mainyakare on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, it was learnt according to thenationonlineng.net.

According to a statement by the Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, the operation was conducted by the Air Task Force of the Operation Lafiya Dole “after series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions had established that a prominent building in the middle of the settlement was being used as a meeting venue”.

The statement read, “in what can only be described as a precision strike, the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has obliterated a Boko Haram Terrorists’ (BHTs’) meeting venue, along with other structures, and neutralized several of their fighters at Mainyakare on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

“The air interdiction mission was executed yesterday, 2 July 2020, to mark the launch of subsidiary Operation LONG REACH II, after series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions had established that a prominent building in the middle of the settlement was being used as a meeting venue, where the terrorists plan and launch attacks as well as house some of their fighters.

“Consequently, the ATF dispatched a force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets to attack the location. The first jet in the first wave of attack recorded a precision bomb strike on the designated target, completely destroying it. Other compounds, which were also designated for destruction, were taken out by subsequent passes of the NAF fighter jets. Many of the BHTs were also killed as a result of the air strikes.

” The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who is in Maiduguri to personally oversee the conduct of Operation LONG REACH II, has commended the ATF for their dedication, dexterity and professionalism. The Defence Headquarters equally urges them to intensify the air offensive against the terrorists and all other criminal elements threatening the peace and security of our beloved country”.

Meanwhile in Plateau State, troops of Operation Safe Haven, neutralised two notorious armed robbers in a clearance operation.

In a separate statement by Enenche, other members of the gang escaped with severe gunshot injuries.

The incident happened around Rock Haven general area in Jos North LGA of Plateau State, the statement revealed.

It added that, “in continuation of reinvigorated, intensive clearance operations aimed at decisively curtailing armed banditry and other forms of criminality in the North Central and North-West regions of the country, troops of Operation SAFE HAVEN have neutralized some notorious armed robbers around Rock Haven general area in Jos North LGA of Plateau State.

“Sequel to actionable intelligence on the activities of a notorious armed robbery gang around Rock Haven general area in Jos North LGA of Plateau State on 2 July 2020, troops deployed tactically to the locality and engaged the robbers with superior firepower. Consequently, two of the criminals were neutralized while others fled in disarray, many with fatal bullet wounds. The corpses of the robbers, along with two locally fabricated pistols recovered, and other items stolen from their victims, have been handed over to the Nigerian Police authorities in Jos for further action.

“The High Command of the Armed Forces of Nigeria congratulates the gallant troops of Operation SAFE HAVEN for their dexterity and professionalism and encourages them to remain resolute in curtailing the activities of criminals in the North Central Zone of the Country”.

As insecurity worsens, no less than 395 Nigerians were killed in different attacks across the country in the month of June, like reported by saharareporters.com.

Most of the attacks, which took place in the northern part of the country, were carried out unhindered as security agencies were not available to protect the people from the onslaught.

According to the latest life count by the Civic Media Lab, 48 persons were also kidnapped in the country.

The report also highlighted how bandits and members of the Boko Haram terrorist group carried out their attacks in Borno, Katsina, Niger, Kogi, and Zamfara States.

In a breakdown of the attacks, 167 Nigerians were killed by bandits in June 2020.

Also, 152 persons were killed in coordinated attacks by Boko Haram members, while unknown gunmen and herdsmen were responsible for the death of 18 and 17 people respectively.

In an unending communal feud, 36 lives were claimed in tribal fights in Ebonyi, Adamawa, Jigawa and Benue State.

Ten police officers and 21 soldiers were part of those killed in the country.

The states most affected by the killings include Borno, Katsina and Zamfara with 152, 80 and 56 deaths respectively.

Little more than five years ago, Burkina Faso was on the up, priding itself as a favoured tourist destination for well-heeled Europeans.

Today, the country seems to be visibly sinking, battered by a jihadist revolt that has swept in from neighbouring Mali, rolled into Niger and cast a shadow on the countries to the south, like reported by dailymail.co.uk.

More than 1,650 civilians and soldiers have died since 2015, according to a local monitoring group, the Observatory for Democracy and Human Rights (ODDH) — a figure that some say is probably just a fraction of the real tally.

Nearly a million people have fled their homes and nowhere in the country rates as safe, under travel recommendations issued by Western governments.

The country, one of the poorest in the world, is scarred by stories of tragedy.

“My wife was killed in an attack in Arbinda in December, leaving a two-year-old baby,” said Aly Sidibe, a 42-year-old former herder displaced in the northern city of Kaya.

“The child is in Ouagadougou. He is being taken care of by social services.”

Sidibe said he had lost his entire herd.

“I had more than 50 cattle. I don’t even have a sheep anymore,” he said.

– ‘Lazy king’ –

Burkina Faso lies in the heart of the Sahel, whose leaders have joined a French-backed effort to roll back jihadism in the vast semi-desert region.

President Emmanuel Macron will join his five allies in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott on Tuesday to debate the state of the campaign.

Burkinabe General Moise Miningou, speaking to AFP, hit out at perceptions that the armed forces were failing.

“People who talk like that do not know the real situation,” he said, pointing to a strategy of “liberating axes (and) securing populations.”

“(…) The battle is hard but we will shortly get results,” he said, noting that the country would have five operational combat helicopters by the end of the year.

Security sources say the armed forces have been a casualty of Burkina’s political turmoil.

For several years, Burkina Faso seemed immune to jihadist attacks — the result, according to some analysts, of a secret deal between the then president, Blaise Compaore, and militant groups.

After Compaore was ousted in 2014, the armed forces were essentially muzzled, deprived of funding, equipment and training, according to the sources.

The transitional government that took over and the government of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who took power in 2015, were afraid of coups.

“We had an army without weapons, an army without ammunition and not trained at all,” said one source.

As the jihadist attacks mounted from 2015, the security forces became overwhelmed, said Mahamoudou Savadogo, a Burkinabe researcher specialising in armed Islamism.

“The army was never equipped, and there was never an appropriate strategy,” Savadogo said.

As a result the armed forces went from defeat to defeat, sometimes masking shortcomings with announcements of spectacular victories.

In the long term, the territory over which the state exercises its authority is shrinking and the army, police, teachers and administration are absent from whole swathes of the country.

Some say Kabore has done little to quell the relentless jihadist attacks.

“He’s a kind of lazy king who holds more and more audiences and listens in his chair without making any decisions,” a diplomatic source in Abidjan said.

– Cycle of retribution –

Savadogo said the void left by the state has been filled by inter-communal violence.

He pointed to the clashes between the Mossi and Fulani — an ethnic herder group, also called Peuls, who are accused by other communities of complicity with the jihadists — as the example of a vicious circle.

“The Mossi abuses in retaliation for the actions of armed terrorist groups have practically pushed young Fulani to join jihadism. They really have no other choice if they want to survive, but also to take revenge,” he said.

Exacerbating inter-communal tensions is a recurrent strategy of jihadist groups throughout the Sahel, according to a French security source.

These groups also seek to appeal to the aspirations of populations abandoned by the state. They have threatened holders of hunting concessions and mining sites, often granted by corrupt state officials, and then offer the hunting and gold-panning areas to locals in the north and east.

Drissa Traore, a teacher and political analyst, said Kabore’s lavish promises on security are unlikely to impress the public, many of whom are likely to see it as a campaign pitch ahead of presidential elections due in November.

“Their worries are elsewhere. Water, gas, food, everything is lacking… Even when these products are available, the prices are tripled or quadrupled,” Traore added.

The security crisis may deprive entire areas of the country from taking part in the vote, which could lead to a skewed or disputed result.

“Despite a disastrous record, the ruling party will win, because the opposition has no leader. We run the risk of even more tension,” predicted Savadogo. “We’re going to sink even further.”

Armed jihadists abducted 10 humanitarian workers as they were distributing food in a village in southwestern Niger, their NGO said according to thedefensepost.com.

The assailants drove into the village aboard motorbikes on Wednesday afternoon and told the victims to follow them, said Kadidiatou Harouna of the Action and Impact Programme in the Sahel (APIS) aid group.

It was the first such hostage-taking of aid workers in the Tillaberi region, where motorbikes have been ordered off the roads since January, she told AFP, adding that the gunmen made off with two APIS 4x4s. She said APIS, a partner of the UN World Food Programme, had worked in the region near the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali “without problems” in the past year.

A German aid worker and an Italian priest were abducted in the region in 2018.

The area has since become a hideout for regional jihadist groups such as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).

Gunmen have stolen several vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the region.

One of the MSF vehicles was used in May 2019 in a failed attack on a high-security prison near the Niger capital Niamey where jihadists were being held, according to the authorities.

The entire Sahel region, but especially Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, is seeing ever more brazen attacks by Islamist groups despite the beefing up of national armies and the deployment of 5,100 French anti-terrorism troops.

Jihadist attacks claimed some 4,000 lives in the three poor, mainly desert countries last year, according to the UN.

At least seven people were killed in two separate attacks by the al-Shabab militant group in Somalia in the last 24 hours, like reported by voanews.com.

The deadliest attack took place in the town of Wanlaweyn, 90 kilometers west of Mogadishu, when an improvised explosive device planted near the home of a military officer exploded on Saturday evening. Moments later a second explosion went off as people gathered at the scene of the first explosion.

Five people were killed including the wife of the military officer who was not at home at the time.

Deputy Governor of Lower Shabelle region Ahmed Yusuf confirmed the death of the officer’s wife to VOA Somali.

“The wife of the officer has died, may Allah give him strength,” he said. “Her elder son is among the wounded.”

Yusuf said several suspects were arrested and investigation is ongoing.

Separately, a suicide car bomb exploded at a checkpoint outside a military base in the town of Ba’adweyne, 170 kilometers southeast of Galkayo town in central Somalia, early on Sunday morning. Residents told VOA Somali that two soldiers were killed, although military officials deny any of them were hurt.

The commander of the 21st Division of the Somali National Army General Abdiaziz Abdullahi Hogollof told VOA Somali that the soldiers at the entrance of the base were ready and prevented the explosive-laden car from penetrating.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for both attacks.

At least 10 villagers have been killed and many wounded by armed attackers in Nigeria’s Benue state, an official said Monday.

Agatu council chairman Usman Suleiman told local media that Fulani gunmen attacked villagers who were returning from the fields early Sunday.

Noting that the wounded were taken to the hospital, Suleiman said security forces were dispatched and an investigation has been launched.

Motorcycling has been banned in some states because armed individuals have been preparing attacks using them recently.

Benue occasionally sees violent clashes between ethnic Fulani herders and other tribes engaged in farming.