Nigeria 2014

[Ivanhoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/africa/nigeria-violence/index.html

 

(CNN) -- The United States deployed 80 members of its armed forces to Chad to help in the search for the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, the White House said Wednesday.

 

"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," it said in a letter.

 

"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required."

 

...

 

So why are troops deploying to Chad?

"Just geographically, Chad's a great location to do this from," Kirby said, adding that the United States has a good relationship with its government.

Reconnaissance flights will be searching an area roughly the size of West Virginia, he said, that includes parts of Nigeria and other countries.

The deployment is not based on any new intelligence leads, a senior administration official said.

"The truth is, we don't know exactly where they are," Kirby said. "We still believe that they've broken up into small groups and dispersed."

A U.S. Predator drone will now be aiding in the search for the girls, a Pentagon official told CNN. Half of the new group of U.S. troops will be operating the launch and recovery of the unarmed drone on its missions, and half of them will be providing security on the ground in Chad.

 

President Barack Obama informed the House speaker and the president of the Senate of the move.

 

The forces will be involved in maintaining aircraft and analyzing data, but because they are armed, the President is required by law to inform the speaker of the House, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said.

[Chris Werb]

If you aren't ready to pile up bodies like firewood, you will not be able to defeat Boko Haram. They are the Men with Guns. The only thing that is scarier than that is Men with Even More and Bigger Guns with Even More Ruthlessness. Be ready slaughter entire madrassas.

 

It's happened before, many times. The most dangerous thing on this planet is arguably a liberal democracy with its back to the wall.

[rmgill]

A style of musket, so named from being sold in West Africa by Danish traders in the 18th century. Subsequently copied & made locally. Other Europeans also sold copies, cashing in on their good reputation.

 

And if those old phartes have been hunting food for their whole life, they can probably shoot the ears off a bee at 100 yards. Which, when is in close terrain (which they can probably sneak through quite adeptly), getting tagged with a large slow bullet like that is not going to be good for the recipient.

Edited May 24, 2014 by rmgill

[rmgill]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/africa/nigeria-violence/index.html

 

 

(CNN) -- The United States deployed 80 members of its armed forces to Chad to help in the search for the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, the White House said Wednesday.

 

"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," it said in a letter.

 

"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required."

 

 

Why the hell didn't they do this sooner instead of the damn hash tag bs?

 

Nearly 2 months later.. how many of the girls are even with Boko Haram?

Edited May 24, 2014 by rmgill

[Ivanhoe]

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/africa/nigeria-violence/index.html

 

(CNN) -- The United States deployed 80 members of its armed forces to Chad to help in the search for the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, the White House said Wednesday.

 

"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," it said in a letter.

 

"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required."

 

Why the hell didn't they do this sooner instead of the damn hash tag bs?

 

Nearly 2 months later.. how many of the girls are even with Boko Haram?

 

 

If you think about .gov forming a steering committee involving DOD, DOS, and DHS (CIA, after all), arguing out roles, responsibilities, and dollars, then going to Nigeria, Chad et al and negotiating basing, ROE, etc., 2 months isn't beyond the pale.

 

Which is why SOCOM was purportedly created. A one-call operations provider. If those girls were American, I assume even the Obama administration would just have SecDef call somebody at MacGill AFB and they'd be wheels-up in a few days.

[Ivanhoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/world/africa/boko-haram-village-raids/index.html

 

Kano, Nigeria (CNN) -- Hundreds of people were killed in raids by Boko Haram Islamic militants in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, on the border with Cameroon, with some sources putting the death toll at 400 to 500.

 

On Tuesday, heavily armed men dressed as soldiers in all-terrain vehicles and on motorcycles attacked neighboring Goshe, Attagara, Agapalwa and Aganjara villages in Gwoza district, shooting residents to death and burning homes.

 

The attacks forced surviving villagers to flee to Cameroon and into the Mandara Mountains on the border.

 

"The killings are massive. Nobody can say how many people were killed, but the figure runs into some hundreds," said Peter Biye, a lawmaker in Nigeria's lower parliament representing the Gwoza region.

 

...

 

The attackers, who posed as soldiers, told residents they had come to protect them from Boko Haram and asked them to assemble. They singled out men and boys and opened fire on them, Biye said.

[X-Files]

Around 480 Nigerian soldiers crossed into Cameroon after Boko Haram militants operating along the border between the two nations attacked a military base and police station. The apparent retreat across the border may suggest Boko Haram is having some success at chasing Nigerian forces out of towns they are defending along the hilly frontier with Cameroon.

 

https://screen.yahoo.com/nigeria-troops-cross-north-cameroon-021214059.html

[Colin]

Canadian armour being used by BO (ex-Canadian Grizzly APC)

 

[Yalmuk]

Nigerian army is going to receive 20 T-72's and 20 BVP-1 IFV's.

 

Päätös myöntää puolustustarvikkeiden kauttakuljetuslupa Kingfisher S.R.O. nimiselle yritykselle Nigeriaan. Kauttakuljetusluvan perusteella yritys saa viedä Suomen kautta Nigeriaan 20 kappaletta T-72 panssarivaunuja ja 20 kappaletta BVP-1 panssaroituja ajoneuvoja.

 

 

Permission to transport these vehicles via Finland was given to company named Kingfisher S.R.O.

http://valtioneuvosto.fi/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/valtioneuvoston-yleisistunto-26-2-2015?_101_INSTANCE_3wyslLo1Z0ni_groupId=10616

[JasonJ]

...

 

The pledge to IS came in an Arabic audio message with English subtitles alleged to have come from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and posted Saturday on Twitter, according to the SITE Intelligence monitoring service.

 

"We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims ... and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah," said the message. IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared himself the caliph.

 

Earlier, the Nigerian extremist group was blamed for four suicide bomb attacks that police said killed at least 54 people and wounded 143 in the northeast city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and birthplace of Boko Haram.

 

...

 

The Boko Haram pledge to IS comes as the Nigerian militants reportedly are massing in the northeastern town of Gwoza, considered their headquarters, for a showdown with the Chadian-led multinational force.

 

...

 

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150308p2g00m0in013000c.html

Edited March 8, 2015 by JasonJ

[X-Files]

Hashtag who?

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/04/14/nigeria-dirls-abduction/25753113/

[JasonJ]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-29/nigeria-army-says-has-rescued-200-girls-women-from-sambis/6429308

 

Nigeria's military says it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from a notorious Boko Haram stronghold, but an army spokesman says the hostages were not those kidnapped from Chibok a year ago.

...

[X-Files]

Hashtag who?

 

About 214 women rescued from Islamist Boko Haram militants in north-east Nigeria are pregnant, according to local media citing the Chief of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The Nigerian military said it freed nearly 700 women last week.

 

http://rt.com/news/255537-boko-haram-women-pregnant/

[Colin]

sigh how are they going to look after these kids and will they be social outcast because of it?

[JasonJ]

Nigeria's military said on Friday, September 25, 2015 that more than 200 members of Boko Haram surrendered as troops regained control of the northeastern town of Banki, from where attacks had been launched into Cameroon.

 

"Over 200 members of the terrorist organisation, Boko Haram, have surrendered today (Friday) to the Nigerian troops in Banki town," Army spokesman, Sani Usman said in a statement.

 

There was no independent verification of the military's statement, the latest in a series of successes claimed by the army against the Islamists, including the destruction of Boko Haram camps.

 

Usman said Banki, in Borno State, was re-captured on Thursday.

 

The military had earlier claimed the arrest of 43 Boko Haram suspects and the release of 241 women and children thought to have been held by the group there.

 

Boko Haram has previously used Banki to launch cross-border attacks, including in and around the Cameroon town of Amchide, where the Islamists clashed with security forces and there were failed suicide attacks Tuesday.

 

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has given his military commanders until early November to end the insurgency, which has claimed at least 17,000 lives and left more than two million homeless since 2009.

 

 

 

http://allafrica.com/stories/201509270145.html

 

Banki town is all the way in the north east corner. Sounds like Boko Haram is getting cleaned out.

[urbanoid]

 

Young female suicide bombers kill 15 in Nigeria market attack

Girl aged just 11 one of two bombers linked to Islamist terror group Boko Haram

t least 15 people have been killed after two female suicide bombers, one said to be aged as young as 11, blew themselves up at a busy mobile phone market in north-east Nigeria, a day after more than 30 were killed in a bomb blast.

Two explosions ripped through the Farm Centre market in northern Nigeria’s biggest city, Kano, shortly after 4pm on Wednesday. One of the bombers was said to be aged just 11 and the other 18.

Facebook activates Safety Check in Nigeria following bombing

Read more

The Islamist terror group Boko Haram has previously used young girls as human bombs in its six-year insurgency in north-east Nigeria, which has left at least 17,000 dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless.

In July 2014, Kano was hit four times in the space of a week by a spate of young female suicide bombers, whom experts say are unlikely to be willing participants to the carnage.

“A minibus carrying some women came to the Farm Centre GSM market and dropped off one girl aged about 11 and another aged about 18, both wore the hijab,” said a Kano police spokesman.

“One went inside the market, the other stayed outside. Then they exploded, killing themselves and others nearby,” he told AFP.

“The victims were taken to hospital and it was later confirmed that 15 people died, not including the suicide bombers.”

The attacks came after at least 32 people were killed in a bomb blast in Yola, north-east Nigeria, on Tuesday night that also bore the hallmarks of the Islamist rebels.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who has given his military commanders until next month to crush the militants, described both attacks as “barbaric” and “cowardly”.

He called for increased vigilance to stop further attacks against “soft” targets and said the government was “very much determined to wipe out Boko Haram in Nigeria” and bring perpetrators to book.

“Nigeria’s reinvigorated, well-equipped and well-motivated armed forces and security agencies [will] overcome Boko Haram very soon,” he added.

Nafiu Mohammed, a market trader, said he was preparing for afternoon prayers when he heard an explosion “deep inside” the popular market.

“Police officers from a nearby police station mobilised to the scene while traders in confusion locked up their shops and moved out of the market,” he said.

He and a fellow trader watched at a distance as ambulances transported the victims to hospital.

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed in northern and north-east Nigeria since Buhari came to power on 29 May, according to an AFP tally.

Tuesday’s attack in Yola was the first suspected Boko Haram strike in Nigeria since a twin suicide bombing in the city on 23 October and a similar strike in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

A total of 27 people were killed in Yola and six in Maiduguri.

The lull suggests the military’s strategy of cutting off Boko Haram’s supply routes and targeting its camps is working, forcing the Isis affiliate to revert to guerrilla tactics.

The latest attacks have revived fears of a fresh round of carnage and police were hunting for four women in the vehicle that dropped off the young bombers at the Kano market.

Kano has been relatively spared from the violence in the last six months, a fact attributed in part to its local security networks of traditional chiefs and civilians.

On 6 July, a girl thought to be aged just 13 blew up a bomb outside a mosque in the city, killing only herself.

In November last year, at least 120 people were killed and 270 others wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers at Kano’s grand mosque.

The attack is thought to have been revenge for an earlier call by the emir of Kano, a traditional leader, for citizens to take up arms against the Islamist militants.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/18/young-female-suicide-bombers-kill-15-in-nigeria-market-attack

[EchoFiveMike]

Meh, Nigeria is a money sink. You're better off burning the money for warmth. S/F....Ken M

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34855695

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/18/in-nigeria-2-billion-in-stolen-funds-is-just-a-drop-in-the-corruption-bucket/

[BansheeOne]

Quote

American hostage Philip Walton rescued in dramatic military operation: Officials

Walton was abducted recently in Niger, where he had been living.

By James Gordon Meek, Aicha El Hammar Castano, and Conor Finnegan

31 October 2020, 16:53

An American citizen abducted last week in Niger has been rescued during a high-risk U.S. military raid in neighboring Nigeria, officials told ABC News early Saturday.

The mission was undertaken by elite commandos as part of a major effort to free the U.S. citizen, Philip Walton, 27, before his abductors could get far after taking him captive in Niger on Oct. 26, counterterrorism officials told ABC News.

The operation involved the governments of the U.S., Niger and Nigeria working together to rescue Walton quickly, sources said. The CIA provided intelligence leading to Walton's whereabouts and Marine Special Operations elements in Africa helped locate him, a former U.S. official said.

Then the elite SEAL Team Six carried out a "precision" hostage rescue mission and killed all but one of the seven captors, according to officials with direct knowledge about the operation.

[...] 

https://abcnews.go.com/International/american-hostage-philip-walton-rescued-dramatic-military-operation/story?id=73940195

[JasonJ]

Looks like it'll be soon for Nigeria to receive the three JF-17s.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 02.03.2021

Nigeria: Hundreds of kidnapped students released — governor

The governor of Zamfara state has said that 279 girls taken from a school are "now safe." Their abduction was the second mass school kidnapping to take place in Nigeria this year.

Hundreds of Nigerian students kidnapped from their boarding school in the northern state of Zamfara have been released, state governor Dr. Bello Matawalle said on Tuesday.  

"Alhamdulillah! It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity," Matawalle wrote on Twitter. "This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe."

Local outlet Premium Times said that the girls were released at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning. However, it also reported that 38 of the total 317 abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe were still missing.

Second school kidnapping in 2021

On Friday, armed gunmen kidnapped the students, aged between 12 and 17. It was the second school kidnapping to take place in Nigeria this year, coming just a week after bandits raided a school in the north-central state of Niger and abducted over 40 people.

On Saturday, gunmen released 27 of the teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school on February 17.

Several large groups of armed men operate in Zamfara state, and are known to kidnap for ransom and to push for the release of their members from jail.

The Nigerian government has repeatedly denied paying ransoms, but President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement on Friday in which he urged state governments "to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the abductions last week, calling for the "immediate and unconditional release" of the students. He also called attacks on schools a grave violation of human rights.

Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings over the years, most notably in the mass abduction in April 2014 by jihadist group Boko Haram, of 276 girls from a school in Borno state. More than a hundred of those girls are still missing. 

https://www.dw.com/en/nigeria-hundreds-of-kidnapped-students-released-governor/a-56741975

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 06.06.2021

Boko Haram leader 'is dead,' jihadist rivals claim

The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has released a recording saying Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself last month. The two former allies split in 2016 in a disagreement over tactics.

Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself in a fight against rival jihadist fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the group said in a recording released on Sunday.

ISWAP sent audio to Reuters and AFP news agencies in which their leader described how Shekau reportedly died.

A person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said that Shekau killed himself on May 18 after detonating an explosive device that he was wearing. "Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the afterlife than getting humiliated on Earth," he can be heard saying. "God has judged him by sending him to heaven."

ISWAP described in the audio how it sent out fighters to Boko Haram's enclave in the Sambisa forest, who found Shekau sitting inside his house and engaged him in a firefight.

"From there he retreated and escaped, ran and roamed the bushes for five days. However, the fighters kept searching and hunting for him before they were able to locate him," the voice said.

DW has been unable to independently verify the claims made by ISWAP in the audio message; the militant group offered no evidence to support them.

Boko Haram have not commented on Shekau's reported death, while the Nigerian army said it was investigating.

Shekau turned Boko Haram into a powerful insurgent group

He helped turn the militant group from a marginal Islamist outfit to one capable of carrying out a full-fledged insurgency in less than a decade, engaging in brutal murders, kidnapping and looting across the northeast of Nigeria.

As many as 30,000 people are estimated to have died from its terror activities, while it has forced around 2 million people to flee their homes, according to the UN refugee agency.

ISWAP were previously part of Boko Haram before splitting five years ago, pledging allegiance to the "Islamic State." 

The schism was caused by religious ideological disagreements over the use of female suicide bombers and the killing of Muslim civilians by Boko Haram, to which ISWAP reportedly objected.

https://www.dw.com/en/boko-haram-leader-is-dead-jihadist-rivals-claim/a-57795611

[Ivanhoe]

Good news, if true.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Although this is something like the 6th time he has been reported dead. He is the Jason Vorhees of international terrorism.

[BansheeOne]

Business as usual, anyway.

Quote

Date 12.06.2021

Author Aditya Sharma

Gunmen attack villages, kill over 90 in Nigeria

A Nigerian regional governor called on the residents to "defend themselves" against bandits following the latest brutal attack.

At least 90 people were killed by armed men in northwestern Nigeria, local media reported on Friday citing the region's police.

"An attack took place at Kadawa village of Zurmi local government where bandits took advantage of the night to strike on unsuspecting people and killed them in cold blood," a police spokesperson told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

"On getting the news of the attack, the Commissioner of Police ordered combined units of security personnel to mobilize to the area, restore peace and confidence in the communities and track the perpetrators so that they can be brought to book," he added.

The attack, which took place on Thursday in a village in Zamfara state, was the latest in a spate of deadly attacks and mass kidnappings the region has seen in recent months.

Governor: 'Defend yourself'

Earlier on Friday, the governor of Zamfara told residents to take matters into their own hands and fight back against such attacks.

"I am calling on the people of the state to defend themselves if the bandits attack them," Governor Bello Matawalle was quoted as saying by the Nigerian Tribune daily.

"My government has approved that whenever the bandits attack you, do not wait for the security personnel to come to your rescue. You should rise and protect yourselves," he said.

Gunmen have ramped up attacks in the country's northwest region forcing thousands of people to flee to neighboring Niger.

The security situation in central and northwestern Nigeria remains fragile. The rising violence presents a new challenge for President Muhammadu Buhari's security forces who have been locked in a war with the jihadists in the country's northeast for more than a decade.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/gunmen-attack-villages-kill-over-90-in-nigeria/a-57864616