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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Nigerian Military Claims Success, Civilians Killed in Air Strike |
| 2015-02-19 |
| [AnNahar] Nigeria on Wednesday claimed to have killed more than 300 Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... bully boyz in a counter-offensive, as Chad pushed into rebel-held areas but an air strike left at least 20 civilians dead. Boko Haram meanwhile vowed to make voting impossible in Nigeria's upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections after a brace of deadly suicide kabooms in the country's violence-wracked northeast. Operations to end the deadly insurgency were cited as the reason to delay polling by six weeks to March 28 but the elections chief ruled out further postponement as "unconstitutional". The military's claim of "massive" Boko Haram casualties came as it said it had retaken the garrison town of Monguno in Borno state that had been captured on January 25 and 10 other communities. There was no independent verification of the claims, which follow similar assertions about high numbers of krazed killer deaths by Niger, Chad and Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... involved in the regional fight-back. Civilian vigilantes in Monguno, from which a krazed killer strike on the state capital Maiduguri was expected to be launched, confirmed the recapture but said only that there were heavy casualties. The recapture, and the purported destruction of a vast cache of arms, equipment and ammunition, adds to a list of claimed military victories in recent weeks. The Chadian military, which recently regained control of the Nigerian town of Gamboru on the border with Cameroon, on Tuesday evening said they had pushed further into Borno. Two Chadian soldiers and several Boko Haram fighters were killed in violent festivities around Dikwa, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Gamboru, on Tuesday afternoon. A krazed killer camp, which is near the group's stronghold in the Sambisa Forest, was overrun, Chadian military sources said. Chad's presence well inside Nigerian territory is a first and may indicate a strategy to push on further to rebel-controlled areas to assist Nigeria's military, who have failed to end the violence. There was a set-back for the regional force, however, as local officials and humanitarian sources said between 20 and 30 mourners at a funeral were killed in an air strike by an unidentified plane. The bombs struck near the mosque in Abadam, half of which is in Niger and the other in Nigeria. Only the Niger side of the village was hit. Troops from Niger and Chad are currently mobilized on the border against the Boko Haram threat but both countries' militaries denied being responsible. Nigerian Air Force front man Air Commodore Dele Alonge claimed no knowledge of the bombing, adding: "There has not been any report from our people of such an incident." A "friendly fire" incident could risk losing the coalition vital support from the local population and creating further tensions in the fragile coalition. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed in a new video posted on Tuesday evening on Twitter: "This election will not be held even if we are dead." Shekau also grabbed credit for a large-scale attack on the northeastern city of Gombe last Saturday where leaflets were dropped warning people not to vote. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |