Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds in northern Nigerian town: residents Joe Penney, Reuters 24 March 2015   (Reuters) - Boko Haram militants have kidnapped more than 400 women and children from the northern Nigerian town of Damasak that was freed this month by troops from Niger and Chad, residents said on Tuesday. There was no immediate official confirmation of the figure, but the Islamist group has previously carried out mass kidnappings. Boko Haram's

Chadian helicopters bomb Boko Haram on Nigeria-Niger border- Niger Army Reuters 22 March 2015   (Reuters) - Two Chadian army helicopters bombed Nigerian Boko Haram positions on Sunday, killing several dozen militants near a village on the border with Niger, a senior Niger military official told Reuters. Niger and Chadian soldiers have been fighting the Islamist militants in a joint mission with Nigeria and Cameroon since March 2, in a bid to

Nigeria military says Bama city recaptured from Boko Haram Julia Payne, Reuters 16 March 2015   (Reuters) - Nigerian government forces recaptured the northeastern city of Bama from Islamist Boko Haram insurgents, the army said on Monday, a significant victory for the government just two weeks before a national election. Boko Haram had held Bama, situated in Borno state where their six-year-old insurgency to establish a medieval-style Islamic

Nigeria bus bomb kills more than a dozen in Potiskum BBC Africa 24 February 2015 A suicide bomb attack has killed more than a dozen people at a crowded bus station in Potiskum, north-eastern Nigeria. A witness told the BBC that a bomber tried to board a bus as transport officials were loading it. Hospital sources say 13 corpses have been taken to the town's mortuary and more than 30 people have been injured. It is the second attack on Potiskum in

The Historical Background of Boko Haram   Boko Haram (literally translated as “Western Education is a Sin”) is a genocidal criminal movement led by an Islamist extremist, Abubakar Shekau, who has vowed to destroy every Christian school in Nigeria, and to carry out terrorist attacks on Nigerian government police and government officials.  It kidnapped over 200 girls from a Christian school in April 2014 and despite the Nigerian government’s

Nigerian forces retake border town of Baga from Boko Haram 22 February 2015 Reuters   (Reuters) - Nigerian forces backed by air strikes seized the northeastern border town of Baga from Islamist group Boko Haram on Saturday, the military said, a significant victory in an offensive against an insurgency affecting four African states. "We have secured Baga. We are now in full control. There are only mopping up exercises left to do," Defence Spokesman

Female suicide bomber kills 16 in northeast Nigeria 15 February 2015 Associated Press   MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — A teenage female suicide bomber blew herself up at crowded bus station in northeast Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 16 and wounding 30 others. Most of the victims were children who had either been selling peanuts or begging for money at the time of the explosion, said witnesses. The bomber managed to get through the security check

France to press for U.N. support for Africa force to fight Boko Haram Abdoulaye Massalaki, Reuters 22 February 2015   NIAMEY (Reuters) – France will support a bid by the African Union to win the backing of the U.N. Security Council for its five-nation force fighting Islamist militant group Boko Haram, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday. Fabius spoke on a tour of Chad, Cameroon and Niger, countries that have launched operations

Boko Haram crisis: Niger to send troops to Nigeria BBC Africa 10 February 2015   Niger's parliament has voted to send troops to Nigeria to join the fight against militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The vote took place after Boko Haram attacked a prison and detonated a car bomb on Monday in the town of Diffa, near Niger's border with Nigeria. MPs said parliament unanimously authorised deploying 750 soldiers with a regional force battling Boko

Boko Haram launches first attack in Niger BBC Africa 6 February 2015   The Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has attacked a town in Niger for the first time, witnesses say. Niger's government said it killed more than 100 of the group's fighters as it repulsed the attack on the border town of Bosso. The group reportedly killed at least 70 people in an attack on the town of Fotokol in Cameroon on Wednesday. The Boko Haram insurgency