During military search operations carried out by Niger and Chad troops in the Diffa region of southeast Niger, 38 Boko Haram Islamist fighters have been killed this week, an official said on Friday.&nbsp; 
 
According to international news agency AFP, Niger defence ministry spokesman Moustapha Ledru informed on state television: &quot;Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the action and &quot;on the enemy side; 38 terrorists killed.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Substantial quantities of weapons and munitions were also seized, he added. 
 
The joint army operations took place &nbsp;around the villages of Gueskerou and Toumour in southeastern Niger between Monday and Wednesday, said the official.&nbsp; 
 
Villagers and NGO workers in Gueskerou, 30 kilometres from Diffa, informed that Boko Haram elements attacked the town on Wednesday night, without killing anyone. 
 
&quot;The attack nonetheless caused a psychosis in the population&quot; and &quot;the assailants torched houses and stole food and medicines after pillaging shops and a pharmacy,&quot; an NGO official told AFP. 
 
The intenrational news agency also pointed out in its report today that Boko Haram&#39;s seven-year insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and border areas of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and made more than 2.6 million homeless. Meanwhile, attacks in Niger&#39;s Diffa region began in February 2015. 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)&nbsp;

The joint army operations took place ?around the villages of Gueskerou and Toumour in southeastern Niger between Monday and Wednesday

During military search operations carried out by Niger and Chad troops in the Diffa region of southeast Niger, 38 Boko Haram Islamist fighters have been killed this week, an official said on Friday. According to international news agency AFP, Niger defence ministry spokesman Moustapha Ledru informed on state television: "Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the action and "on the enemy side; 38 terrorists killed." Substantial quantities of weapons and munitions were also seized, he added. The joint army operations took place around the villages of Gueskerou and Toumour in southeastern Niger between Monday and Wednesday, said the official. Villagers and NGO workers in Gueskerou, 30 kilometres from Diffa, informed that Boko Haram elements attacked the town on Wednesday night, without killing anyone. "The attack nonetheless caused a psychosis in the population" and "the assailants torched houses and stole food and medicines after pillaging shops and a pharmacy," an NGO official told AFP. The intenrational news agency also pointed out in its report today that Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and border areas of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and made more than 2.6 million homeless. Meanwhile, attacks in Niger's Diffa region began in February 2015. (WION with inputs from AFP)

38 Boko Haram fighters killed this week during military raid in south Niger, says army

Boko Haram today released a video of the girls allegedly kidnapped from Chibok in April 2014, showing some who are still alive and claiming others died in air strikes.&nbsp; 
 
The video is the latest release from embattled Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who earlier this month denied claims that he had been replaced as the leader of the jihadist group.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;They should know that their children are still in our hands,&quot; said a man whose face was covered by a turban in the video posted on YouTube.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;There is a number of the girls, about 40 of them, that have been married by the decision of Allah,&quot; said the man in the 11-minute video, which shows girls with veils sitting on the ground and standing in the background.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Some of them have died as a result of aerial bombardment.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
The mass kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention on the Boko Haram conflict, in which at least 20,000 people have been killed since 2009. 
 
Throughout 2015, the Nigerian military announced the rescue of hundreds of people, most of them women and children, who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram.&nbsp; 
 
But the missing schoolgirls were not among them, despite several unconfirmed sightings. 
 
(AFP)

In the 11-minute video, a man claimed that 40 abdcuted girls 'have been married by the decision of Allah', while others died in air strikes

Boko Haram today released a video of the girls allegedly kidnapped from Chibok in April 2014, showing some who are still alive and claiming others died in air strikes. The video is the latest release from embattled Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who earlier this month denied claims that he had been replaced as the leader of the jihadist group. "They should know that their children are still in our hands," said a man whose face was covered by a turban in the video posted on YouTube. "There is a number of the girls, about 40 of them, that have been married by the decision of Allah," said the man in the 11-minute video, which shows girls with veils sitting on the ground and standing in the background. "Some of them have died as a result of aerial bombardment." The mass kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention on the Boko Haram conflict, in which at least 20,000 people have been killed since 2009. Throughout 2015, the Nigerian military announced the rescue of hundreds of people, most of them women and children, who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram. But the missing schoolgirls were not among them, despite several unconfirmed sightings. (AFP)

Boko Haram releases new video of alleged Chibok girls

Boko Haram&#39;s shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau has appeared in a new video vowing to fight on, shrugging off an apparent split in the hardline jihadist group blamed for thousands of deaths since 2009. 
 
&quot;I... Abubakar Ash-Shakawy (Shekau), the leader of Jama&#39;atu Ahlissunnah Lidda&#39;awati Wal Jihad made it a duty for myself (to fight) Nigeria and the whole world,&quot; Shekau said in the video released on Sunday, using group&#39;s name since it declared allegiance to the so-called Islamic State. 
 
&#39;I&#39;m alive&#39; 
 
Last week, Shekau said in an audio message he was still head of the group despite his purported replacement with Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a former Boko Haram spokesman. 
 
&quot;We have no desire to fight our Muslim brethren,&quot; Shekau, who last appeared in March, said in the 24-minute video. 
 
Shekau ridiculed suggestions that he was dead, and looked more composed and energetic than in previous appearances. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m alive by the permission of Allah,&quot; he said in his speech in Arabic and Hausa, adding that he would only die when his time comes. 
 
Shekau labels western countries &#39;tyrants of the United Nonsense&#39;&nbsp; 
 
In the video, he is wearing camouflage gear and holding a machine gun, standing between two Islamist fighters in balaclavas armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. 
 
He taunted President Muhammadu Buhari&#39;s administration and condemned western countries including the United States, France, Germany and &quot;the tyrants of the United Nonsense (UN)&quot;. 
 
At the end of his speech -- apparently filmed in Boko Haram&#39;s stronghold in the Sambisa forest of northeastern Nigeria -- he fired off rounds of ammunition into the air. 
 
His absence in recent months had sparked speculation about his fate and whether he had been deposed as the head of Boko Haram. 
 
Barnawi&#39;s appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic State group to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year. 
 
Shekau dismissed Barnawi as an infidel who condoned living in an un-Islamic society without waging jihad. 
 
Shekau became leader after Nigerian security forces killed the group&#39;s founding chief Mohammed Yusuf in 2009. 
 
Boko Haram has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since it launched a brutal insurgency in Nigeria in 2009. 
 
Nigerian forces, with the support of regional troops, have recaptured swathes of territory lost to the jihadists since they launched a military campaign in February 2014. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Shekau ridiculed suggestions that he was dead. 'We have no desire to fight our Muslim brethren,' he said

Boko Haram's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau has appeared in a new video vowing to fight on, shrugging off an apparent split in the hardline jihadist group blamed for thousands of deaths since 2009. "I... Abubakar Ash-Shakawy (Shekau), the leader of Jama'atu Ahlissunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad made it a duty for myself (to fight) Nigeria and the whole world," Shekau said in the video released on Sunday, using group's name since it declared allegiance to the so-called Islamic State. 'I'm alive' Last week, Shekau said in an audio message he was still head of the group despite his purported replacement with Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a former Boko Haram spokesman. "We have no desire to fight our Muslim brethren," Shekau, who last appeared in March, said in the 24-minute video. Shekau ridiculed suggestions that he was dead, and looked more composed and energetic than in previous appearances. "I'm alive by the permission of Allah," he said in his speech in Arabic and Hausa, adding that he would only die when his time comes. Shekau labels western countries 'tyrants of the United Nonsense' In the video, he is wearing camouflage gear and holding a machine gun, standing between two Islamist fighters in balaclavas armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. He taunted President Muhammadu Buhari's administration and condemned western countries including the United States, France, Germany and "the tyrants of the United Nonsense (UN)". At the end of his speech -- apparently filmed in Boko Haram's stronghold in the Sambisa forest of northeastern Nigeria -- he fired off rounds of ammunition into the air. His absence in recent months had sparked speculation about his fate and whether he had been deposed as the head of Boko Haram. Barnawi's appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic State group to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year. Shekau dismissed Barnawi as an infidel who condoned living in an un-Islamic society without waging jihad. Shekau became leader after Nigerian security forces killed the group's founding chief Mohammed Yusuf in 2009. Boko Haram has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since it launched a brutal insurgency in Nigeria in 2009. Nigerian forces, with the support of regional troops, have recaptured swathes of territory lost to the jihadists since they launched a military campaign in February 2014. (AFP)

Boko Haram's shadowy leader Shekau vows to fight in new video, dismisses split rumours

Islamic State has named a new leader of Boko Haram, the Nigerian militant group which last year swore allegiance to it. 
 
Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named the Islamic State&#39;s governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba, which was circulated late on Tuesday. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who took office last year, has made it a priority to defeat Boko Haram, which has tried to create a state adhering to strict sharia law in the northeast during a seven-year insurgency. 
 
Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the end of 2014 but was pushed out by Nigerian troops, aided by soldiers from neighbouring countries, early last year. In the interview, al-Barnawi said Boko Haram was &quot;still a force to be reckoned with&quot; and that it had been receiving new recruits. 
 
Despite having been pushed out of most of the territory it controlled, Boko Haram has carried out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, focusing on busy public areas such as markets and mosques. 
 
Fulan Nasrullah, a security analyst, said al-Barnawi had been a senior figure within Boko Haram who was previously the group&#39;s military commander. The Islamic State publication did not mention Abubakar Shekau, who was the group&#39;s leader and represented the Nigerian jihadists in videos during an insurgency that has killed about 15,000 people and displaced more than two million. 
 
Shekau, whose death has been reported on numerous occasions by the army only for him to reappear in videos, was last seen in a video circulated in March in which he seemed to suggest he was ailing and Boko Haram was losing its effectiveness. A video emerged the following week saying there would be no surrender. In June, a senior US general said Boko Haram had fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from Islamic State. 
 
The Nigerian group swore allegiance to Islamic State, based in Syria and Iraq, in March 2015. That assessment came days after US officials said they had seen no evidence that Boko Haram had so far received significant operational support or financing from Islamic State militants, concluding the loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise. 
 
(Reuters)

Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named the Islamic State's governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba

Islamic State has named a new leader of Boko Haram, the Nigerian militant group which last year swore allegiance to it. Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named the Islamic State's governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba, which was circulated late on Tuesday. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who took office last year, has made it a priority to defeat Boko Haram, which has tried to create a state adhering to strict sharia law in the northeast during a seven-year insurgency. Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the end of 2014 but was pushed out by Nigerian troops, aided by soldiers from neighbouring countries, early last year. In the interview, al-Barnawi said Boko Haram was "still a force to be reckoned with" and that it had been receiving new recruits. Despite having been pushed out of most of the territory it controlled, Boko Haram has carried out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, focusing on busy public areas such as markets and mosques. Fulan Nasrullah, a security analyst, said al-Barnawi had been a senior figure within Boko Haram who was previously the group's military commander. The Islamic State publication did not mention Abubakar Shekau, who was the group's leader and represented the Nigerian jihadists in videos during an insurgency that has killed about 15,000 people and displaced more than two million. Shekau, whose death has been reported on numerous occasions by the army only for him to reappear in videos, was last seen in a video circulated in March in which he seemed to suggest he was ailing and Boko Haram was losing its effectiveness. A video emerged the following week saying there would be no surrender. In June, a senior US general said Boko Haram had fractured internally, with a big group splitting away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from Islamic State. The Nigerian group swore allegiance to Islamic State, based in Syria and Iraq, in March 2015. That assessment came days after US officials said they had seen no evidence that Boko Haram had so far received significant operational support or financing from Islamic State militants, concluding the loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise. (Reuters)

Islamic State announces new Boko Haram leader

The United Nations has temporarily suspended aid deliveries in Nigeria&#39;s northeastern state of Borno, the former stronghold of jihadists Boko Haram, after a humanitarian convoy was attacked, the UN children&#39;s agency UNICEF said yesterday. 
 
UNICEF said in a statement that unknown assailants attacked the convoy yesterday as it returned to Maiduguri from delivering aid in Bama, injuring a UNICEF employee and an International Organization for Migration contractor. 
 
&quot;The United Nations has temporarily suspended humanitarian assistance missions pending review of the security situation,&quot; it said. 
 
Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said troops were escorting the humanitarian convoy when it was attacked by &quot;suspected remnants of Boko Haram&quot; and that two soldiers and three civilians were wounded. 
 
Nearly a quarter of a million children in Borno suffer from life-threatening malnourishment and around one in five will die if they do not receive treatment, UNICEF said earlier this month. 
 
Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Wednesday that severely malnourished children were dying in large numbers in northeast Nigeria, where food supplies are close to running out. 
 
By 2014, Boko Haram controlled territory nearly the size of Belgium in northeast Nigeria until most of it was recaptured last year by the Nigerian army and troops from neighbouring countries. 
 
More than 15,000 people have been killed and at least 2 million displaced by Boko Haram&#39;s insurgency in Nigeria. The group has carried out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad. 
 
(Reuters)

Nigerian army spokesman said two soldiers and three civilians were injured in an attack by 'suspected remnants of Boko Haram'

The United Nations has temporarily suspended aid deliveries in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, the former stronghold of jihadists Boko Haram, after a humanitarian convoy was attacked, the UN children's agency UNICEF said yesterday. UNICEF said in a statement that unknown assailants attacked the convoy yesterday as it returned to Maiduguri from delivering aid in Bama, injuring a UNICEF employee and an International Organization for Migration contractor. "The United Nations has temporarily suspended humanitarian assistance missions pending review of the security situation," it said. Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said troops were escorting the humanitarian convoy when it was attacked by "suspected remnants of Boko Haram" and that two soldiers and three civilians were wounded. Nearly a quarter of a million children in Borno suffer from life-threatening malnourishment and around one in five will die if they do not receive treatment, UNICEF said earlier this month. Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Wednesday that severely malnourished children were dying in large numbers in northeast Nigeria, where food supplies are close to running out. By 2014, Boko Haram controlled territory nearly the size of Belgium in northeast Nigeria until most of it was recaptured last year by the Nigerian army and troops from neighbouring countries. More than 15,000 people have been killed and at least 2 million displaced by Boko Haram's insurgency in Nigeria. The group has carried out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad. (Reuters)

UN suspends aid after convoy attack in Nigeria's Borno state

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said today that Nigerian children are dying at high rates from malnutrition and disease in a growing humanitarian emergency in the northeast. 
 
The medical charity called on the United Nations (UN) to set up a steady food pipeline to the area being reclaimed by the Nigerian army from Boko Haram militants, where MSF said more than 500,000 people and possibly 800,000 have been cut off. 
 
&quot;The situation is a large-scale humanitarian disaster,&quot; MSF general director Bruno Jochum told a news briefing in Geneva. &quot;We are talking at least about pockets of what is close to a famine situation.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

The medical charity called on the United Nations (UN) to set up a steady food pipeline to the area ?

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said today that Nigerian children are dying at high rates from malnutrition and disease in a growing humanitarian emergency in the northeast. The medical charity called on the United Nations (UN) to set up a steady food pipeline to the area being reclaimed by the Nigerian army from Boko Haram militants, where MSF said more than 500,000 people and possibly 800,000 have been cut off. "The situation is a large-scale humanitarian disaster," MSF general director Bruno Jochum told a news briefing in Geneva. "We are talking at least about pockets of what is close to a famine situation." (Reuters)

Nigerian children dying due to malnutrition: MSF sounds alert?

The United Nations has made the first food aid delivery to thousands of people displaced by Boko Haram Islamists in the Nigerian town of Banki, where hundreds have starved to death since March, the UN said on Friday. 
 
Officials from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) delivered 30 tonnes of &quot;various lifesaving food items&quot; transported from neighbouring Cameroon, the OCHA said in a statement.&nbsp;The convoy reached Banki on Thursday and distributed food to the more than 25,000 people in the town, it said. 
 
&quot;An additional 700 kilograms of supplementary food for malnourished children was airlifted from the state capital Maiduguri to Banki on the same day.&quot;&nbsp;It was the first aid delivery to the thousands of internally displaced in the northeast region in the last four months following deadly Boko Haram raids. 
 
They have been without food and basic supplies and relied on paltry food handouts from soldiers who have been sharing their rations.&nbsp;Last month a soldier and a vigilante assisting the military in fighting Boko Haram told AFP at least 10 people were dying from hunger every day, highlighting warnings about a food crisis in the Sahel region. 
 
The vigilante said the cemetery in Banki, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of the Borno state capital Maiduguri, was dotted with 376 graves of displaced people who died of starvation.&nbsp;The soldier said people had been reduced to &quot;walking corpses&quot; facing imminent death without food aid. 
 
When Boko Haram intensified attacks on villages in the area, residents fled to Banki where a military detachment has been based since they retook it in September.&nbsp;The United Nations said in May that 9.2 million people living around Lake Chad, which forms the border of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, were in desperate need of food. 
 
According to the OCHA aid distribution in Banki and other areas recently liberated by the Nigerian military was &quot;scaling up&quot; but more funds were needed to meet the &quot;lifesaving needs&quot; of people affected by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria. 
 
Only 28 per cent of the $279 million required by the UN to help those affected by the violence has been realised, leaving a $200 million shortfall. 
 
The Borno state government and aid agencies have warned about acute food shortages in the Lake Chad region as a result of seven years of violence. 
 
Boko Haram&#39;s insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead in Nigeria and devastated infrastructure in the impoverished northeast. The unrest has also displaced more than 2.6 million.&nbsp;Nigeria&#39;s government has been encouraging people to return home since the recapture of swathes of territory lost to the Islamist militants in 2014 but most are still largely reliant on food handouts. 
 
There have been concerns about high death rates from severe acute malnutrition in camps for the internally displaced, while it is feared some inaccessible areas could be suffering from famine.&nbsp;A UN official compared the situation with the crisis in Darfur and South Sudan. 
 
(AFP)

The camps have seen high death rates from severe acute malnutrition in camps, even famine. A UN official compared it to the Darfur crisis

The United Nations has made the first food aid delivery to thousands of people displaced by Boko Haram Islamists in the Nigerian town of Banki, where hundreds have starved to death since March, the UN said on Friday. Officials from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) delivered 30 tonnes of "various lifesaving food items" transported from neighbouring Cameroon, the OCHA said in a statement. The convoy reached Banki on Thursday and distributed food to the more than 25,000 people in the town, it said. "An additional 700 kilograms of supplementary food for malnourished children was airlifted from the state capital Maiduguri to Banki on the same day." It was the first aid delivery to the thousands of internally displaced in the northeast region in the last four months following deadly Boko Haram raids. They have been without food and basic supplies and relied on paltry food handouts from soldiers who have been sharing their rations. Last month a soldier and a vigilante assisting the military in fighting Boko Haram told AFP at least 10 people were dying from hunger every day, highlighting warnings about a food crisis in the Sahel region. The vigilante said the cemetery in Banki, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of the Borno state capital Maiduguri, was dotted with 376 graves of displaced people who died of starvation. The soldier said people had been reduced to "walking corpses" facing imminent death without food aid. When Boko Haram intensified attacks on villages in the area, residents fled to Banki where a military detachment has been based since they retook it in September. The United Nations said in May that 9.2 million people living around Lake Chad, which forms the border of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, were in desperate need of food. According to the OCHA aid distribution in Banki and other areas recently liberated by the Nigerian military was "scaling up" but more funds were needed to meet the "lifesaving needs" of people affected by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria. Only 28 per cent of the $279 million required by the UN to help those affected by the violence has been realised, leaving a $200 million shortfall. The Borno state government and aid agencies have warned about acute food shortages in the Lake Chad region as a result of seven years of violence. Boko Haram's insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead in Nigeria and devastated infrastructure in the impoverished northeast. The unrest has also displaced more than 2.6 million. Nigeria's government has been encouraging people to return home since the recapture of swathes of territory lost to the Islamist militants in 2014 but most are still largely reliant on food handouts. There have been concerns about high death rates from severe acute malnutrition in camps for the internally displaced, while it is feared some inaccessible areas could be suffering from famine. A UN official compared the situation with the crisis in Darfur and South Sudan. (AFP)

UN delivers food to starving displaced by Boko Haram

Some 250 people who were arrested and held on suspicion of links to Boko Haram Islamists have been released and given $10, Nigeria&#39;s army said today. 
 
&quot;Yesterday (Sunday), a total of 249 cleared suspected Boko Haram terrorists and accomplices were released as approved by the chief of army staff in Maiduguri,&quot; said army spokesman Sani Usman. 
 
Colonel Usman said in a statement that those released included 169 men, 46 women and 34 children.&nbsp;They were handed over to the Borno state government in northeast Nigeria and told &quot;to remain law-abiding and go about their lawful business&quot;, he added.&nbsp;&quot;Each of them was given a token of N3,000 (naira, $10.40),&quot; he said. 
 
It was not stated how long they were all held in custody. 
 
Most of those held were from Borno, epicentre of the violence that has claimed at least 20,000 lives and made more than 2.6 million homeless since 2009.&nbsp;But one came from Lagos, 1,200 kilometres away in the southwest, and two from neighbouring Cameroon. 
 
Nigeria&#39;s military has been repeatedly criticised for the arbitrary detention of civilians during the seven-year Boko Haram insurgency in the remote region.&nbsp;Human rights groups have accused the army of keeping suspects in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, and have said many have died from disease, hunger, dehydration and injury. 
 
In May this year, Amnesty International called for one military detention facility in Maiduguri to be shut down after nearly 150 people, among them babies and children, died in custody.&nbsp;Troops have also been accused of carrying out torture and summary executions.&nbsp;Security analysts say arbitrary detention has robbed the military of key on-the-ground intelligence from local people as sweeping arrests have led to hostility and resentment. 
 
In February, 275 detainees were freed, including 50 children. Amnesty said none had been brought before a court or allowed access to lawyers while in detention. 
 
(AFP)

Those released included 169 men, 46 women and 34 children. They were handed over to the Borno state government in northeast Nigeria

Some 250 people who were arrested and held on suspicion of links to Boko Haram Islamists have been released and given $10, Nigeria's army said today. "Yesterday (Sunday), a total of 249 cleared suspected Boko Haram terrorists and accomplices were released as approved by the chief of army staff in Maiduguri," said army spokesman Sani Usman. Colonel Usman said in a statement that those released included 169 men, 46 women and 34 children. They were handed over to the Borno state government in northeast Nigeria and told "to remain law-abiding and go about their lawful business", he added. "Each of them was given a token of N3,000 (naira, $10.40)," he said. It was not stated how long they were all held in custody. Most of those held were from Borno, epicentre of the violence that has claimed at least 20,000 lives and made more than 2.6 million homeless since 2009. But one came from Lagos, 1,200 kilometres away in the southwest, and two from neighbouring Cameroon. Nigeria's military has been repeatedly criticised for the arbitrary detention of civilians during the seven-year Boko Haram insurgency in the remote region. Human rights groups have accused the army of keeping suspects in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, and have said many have died from disease, hunger, dehydration and injury. In May this year, Amnesty International called for one military detention facility in Maiduguri to be shut down after nearly 150 people, among them babies and children, died in custody. Troops have also been accused of carrying out torture and summary executions. Security analysts say arbitrary detention has robbed the military of key on-the-ground intelligence from local people as sweeping arrests have led to hostility and resentment. In February, 275 detainees were freed, including 50 children. Amnesty said none had been brought before a court or allowed access to lawyers while in detention. (AFP)

Nigerian army releases Boko Haram suspects, gives them $10

&nbsp;A suicide bomber belonging to the Nigerian jihadist group&nbsp;Boko&nbsp;Haram&nbsp;killed at least 11 people when he blew himself up close to a mosque in Cameroon near the Nigerian border, military sources and local officials said on Thursday.

The attack, which took place late on Wednesday, occurred after the breaking of the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.

&quot;After the prayer, the faithful gathered under a tent in Djakana,&quot; said a local official. &quot;A suicide bomber exploded and killed 11 people. Four others were injured.&quot;

A Cameroonian army officer said the bomber was a young boy.

Since a regional offensive last year drove the insurgents from most of their strongholds,&nbsp;Boko Haram&nbsp;has been waging a guerrilla-style campaign targeting civilians. In Cameroon, teenage girls have killed dozens in suicide bombings.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced in Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon during&nbsp;Boko&nbsp;Haram&#39;s seven-year campaign to create an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.

The group pledged its allegiance to Islamic State last year, while the practical extent of its links with the Syria&nbsp;and Iraq-based group is not known.
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

The attacker was a young boy, a Cameroon army official said.

A suicide bomber belonging to the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram killed at least 11 people when he blew himself up close to a mosque in Cameroon near the Nigerian border, military sources and local officials said on Thursday. The attack, which took place late on Wednesday, occurred after the breaking of the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan. "After the prayer, the faithful gathered under a tent in Djakana," said a local official. "A suicide bomber exploded and killed 11 people. Four others were injured." A Cameroonian army officer said the bomber was a young boy. Since a regional offensive last year drove the insurgents from most of their strongholds, Boko Haram has been waging a guerrilla-style campaign targeting civilians. In Cameroon, teenage girls have killed dozens in suicide bombings. More than 15,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced in Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon during Boko Haram's seven-year campaign to create an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria. The group pledged its allegiance to Islamic State last year, while the practical extent of its links with the Syria and Iraq-based group is not known. (Reuters)

Boko Haram suicide bomber kills 11 in Cameroon

President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger called on Tuesday for France to strengthen military operations against West African Islamist militants, including Boko Haram, after its fighters carried out a deadly attack on a Nigerien town. 
 
France currently has some 3,500 troops spread across five countries - Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso - in the region as part of a two-year-old operation to hunt down jihadists. 
 
Paris also assists West African states in the fight against the Nigeria-based Boko Haram with intelligence, logistics and training, but does not have combat troops directly involved. 
 
&quot;We want ... a strengthening of this operation across the Sahel, including to address the threats we are facing today with Boko Haram,&quot; Issoufou told reporters after a meeting with French President Fran?ois Hollande in Paris. 
 
Hollande said earlier, during the same press conference, that France would back the multinational force - that includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin - in its fight against Boko Haram, without giving further details. 
 
Boko Haram killed 26 Nigerien soldiers when it stormed and seized the southeastern town of Bosso on June 3. The attack, one of the deadliest by Boko Haram in Niger, spurred neighbouring Chad to send in 2,000 troops to prepare a counter-attack. 
 
&quot;We hope France will continue to support us in terms of intelligence and operational capacities to deal with this extremely dangerous threat,&quot; Issoufou said in Paris. 
 
France said in April it would increase the number of its troops in Ivory Coast to counter growing jihadist threats in the region, and could deploy them further afield if needed. 
 
But the French military, also involved in the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has been overstretched since last year&#39;s IS attacks on Paris that led authorities to deploy around 10,000 troops in France.

Paris assists West Africa in the fight against Boko Haram with intelligence, logistics and training, but no combat troops directly involved

President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger called on Tuesday for France to strengthen military operations against West African Islamist militants, including Boko Haram, after its fighters carried out a deadly attack on a Nigerien town. France currently has some 3,500 troops spread across five countries - Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso - in the region as part of a two-year-old operation to hunt down jihadists. Paris also assists West African states in the fight against the Nigeria-based Boko Haram with intelligence, logistics and training, but does not have combat troops directly involved. "We want ... a strengthening of this operation across the Sahel, including to address the threats we are facing today with Boko Haram," Issoufou told reporters after a meeting with French President Fran?ois Hollande in Paris. Hollande said earlier, during the same press conference, that France would back the multinational force - that includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin - in its fight against Boko Haram, without giving further details. Boko Haram killed 26 Nigerien soldiers when it stormed and seized the southeastern town of Bosso on June 3. The attack, one of the deadliest by Boko Haram in Niger, spurred neighbouring Chad to send in 2,000 troops to prepare a counter-attack. "We hope France will continue to support us in terms of intelligence and operational capacities to deal with this extremely dangerous threat," Issoufou said in Paris. France said in April it would increase the number of its troops in Ivory Coast to counter growing jihadist threats in the region, and could deploy them further afield if needed. But the French military, also involved in the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has been overstretched since last year's IS attacks on Paris that led authorities to deploy around 10,000 troops in France.

Niger President asks France to boost operations against Islamist militants

Niger vowed to avenge the deaths of 24 of its soldiers who were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in one of the jihadist group`s deadliest attacks in the country. 
 
&quot;We must continue to fight, this insult must be expunged, there is nothing to be done, it must be avenged,&quot; Defence Minister Hassoumi Massoudou said Sunday. 
 
The minister was speaking to troops at a garrison at Bosso, near the Nigerian border where the deadly attack took place on Friday, according to a broadcast on state television on Monday. 
 
The bradcast said the minister visited military positions in Bosso accompanied by army chiefs and Nigerian General Lamidi Adeosun, head of the multinational force that groups soldiers from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad to fight Boko Haram. 
The minister also toured the town to view to scale of the damage caused by the Islamic insurgents, the television said. 
 
It showed images of a burnt-out military transport vehicle and a town seemingly devoid of its 20,000 residents and Nigerian refugees. 
 
&quot;It`s terrible, all of Niger is crying,&quot; said Massoudou, adding that he felt &quot;deeply wounded&quot; after visiting the site of the bloodshed. 
The attack &quot;will unfortunately be engraved on the history of our people.&quot; 
 
He urged the troops to keep their &quot;morale high&quot; as &quot;we will win this war.&quot; 
 
Twenty-four Nigerien and two Nigerian soldiers were killed in the attack by hundreds of Boko Haram assailants on a military post in Bosso, the government said in a statement Monday.&nbsp; 
 
The defence ministry earlier said that a total of 32 soldiers had been killed.&nbsp; 
 
Some 67 soldiers were injured, according to the updated statement, while 55 Boko Haram fighters were killed and &quot;many&quot; injured. &quot;On the enemy`s side, several dead and injured were taken away,&quot; the ministry said. 
 
Local resident and former MP Elhaj Aboubacar said: &quot;They drove up at twilight, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest), they fired a lot of shots and torched many places in Bosso.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We don`t know where our military went, but one thing is for sure, Boko Haram were able to do what they liked until dawn,&quot; Aboubacar said. 
 
It was one of the deadliest attacks by Boko Haram in Niger since the Islamist group began launching raids in the country in February 2015 from its stronghold in neighbouring Nigeria. 
 
Boko Haram`s seven-year insurgency has devastated infrastructure in Nigeria`s impoverished northeast and forced around 2.1 million people in Nigeria to flee their homes, according to the UN`s refugee agency. 
 
The unrest has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and made more than 2.6 million homeless. 
 
Since Friday`s attacks, thousands of residents have fled Bosso to &quot;more secure areas&quot;, a UN source said. 
 
Water, food, shelter and medical aid remain &quot;the most urgent needs&quot;, the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Niamey. 
 
It said humanitarian aid missions to Bosso were suspended for security reasons. 
The attack comes as the multinational force prepares to launch a &quot;decisive&quot; offensive against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

Niger vowed to avenge the deaths of 24 of its soldiers who were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in one of the jihadist group`s deadliest attacks in the country

Niger vowed to avenge the deaths of 24 of its soldiers who were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in one of the jihadist group`s deadliest attacks in the country. "We must continue to fight, this insult must be expunged, there is nothing to be done, it must be avenged," Defence Minister Hassoumi Massoudou said Sunday. The minister was speaking to troops at a garrison at Bosso, near the Nigerian border where the deadly attack took place on Friday, according to a broadcast on state television on Monday. The bradcast said the minister visited military positions in Bosso accompanied by army chiefs and Nigerian General Lamidi Adeosun, head of the multinational force that groups soldiers from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad to fight Boko Haram. The minister also toured the town to view to scale of the damage caused by the Islamic insurgents, the television said. It showed images of a burnt-out military transport vehicle and a town seemingly devoid of its 20,000 residents and Nigerian refugees. "It`s terrible, all of Niger is crying," said Massoudou, adding that he felt "deeply wounded" after visiting the site of the bloodshed. The attack "will unfortunately be engraved on the history of our people." He urged the troops to keep their "morale high" as "we will win this war." Twenty-four Nigerien and two Nigerian soldiers were killed in the attack by hundreds of Boko Haram assailants on a military post in Bosso, the government said in a statement Monday. The defence ministry earlier said that a total of 32 soldiers had been killed. Some 67 soldiers were injured, according to the updated statement, while 55 Boko Haram fighters were killed and "many" injured. "On the enemy`s side, several dead and injured were taken away," the ministry said. Local resident and former MP Elhaj Aboubacar said: "They drove up at twilight, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest), they fired a lot of shots and torched many places in Bosso." "We don`t know where our military went, but one thing is for sure, Boko Haram were able to do what they liked until dawn," Aboubacar said. It was one of the deadliest attacks by Boko Haram in Niger since the Islamist group began launching raids in the country in February 2015 from its stronghold in neighbouring Nigeria. Boko Haram`s seven-year insurgency has devastated infrastructure in Nigeria`s impoverished northeast and forced around 2.1 million people in Nigeria to flee their homes, according to the UN`s refugee agency. The unrest has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and made more than 2.6 million homeless. Since Friday`s attacks, thousands of residents have fled Bosso to "more secure areas", a UN source said. Water, food, shelter and medical aid remain "the most urgent needs", the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Niamey. It said humanitarian aid missions to Bosso were suspended for security reasons. The attack comes as the multinational force prepares to launch a "decisive" offensive against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

Niger vows to avenge deadly raid by Boko Haram

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