It also named Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman as some of the commanders killed in the operations.
Advertisement
“Their leader, so-called “Abubakar Shekau”, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders”, said a statement from military spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman.
“Nigerian military officials said the air force struck while Shekau was praying Friday at Taye village in the extremists” Sambisa Forest stronghold in northeastern Nigeria.
Nigeria’s army says it has killed high-value target commanders of terrorist sect, Boko Haram. Authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and Buhari vowed to rescue the others.
Observers don’t expect confirmation of Shekau’s death from the terrorist group, which only communicates in periodic videos sent to the media.
Kerry did not make a direct reference to the reported air raid on his arrival on Tuesday, but his administration has paid close attention to the fight against a militant group that has declared allegiance to DAESH and attacked Nigeria’s neighbors.
The statements came the same day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss Islamic extremism and regional security.
Under Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan, the United States blocked arms sales and withdrew training of its forces, largely because of corruption and human rights abuses by the military.
It claims the group’s elusive leader, Abubakar Shekau, who has a bounty on his head, has been fatally wounded in the raids which were carried out on Friday.
He is expected to give a speech on interreligious tolerance, in the northwestern Sokoto State later Tuesday morning. She urged Nigeria’s government to meet Boko Haram’s demand to release militants in exchange for Dorcas’ freedom and that of her fellow abductees.
Islamic State, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance previous year, declared he was no longer the leader of their west African franchise, putting a former spokesman in his place.
Advertisement
The Nigerian military may be trying to prove the legitimacy of using airstrikes after a video was released earlier this month claiming that some of the 218 kidnapped Chibok girls had died following an aerial attack on Boko Haram camps by government forces.
