Government planes attacked the Islamist group inside the Sambisa forest in its northeast heartland on Friday, the air force said, adding that it had only just confirmed details of the impact of the raid.
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Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous raids only for the leader to surface shortly afterwards in videos.
“The terrorists attempted to storm the troops location at about 10.00pm, but paid dearly as the troops killed several of them including two senior commanders that led the attack”.
A split in Boko Haram emerged earlier this month, when the Islamic State group, to which Shekau had pledged allegiance in 2015, said he had been replaced as leader by Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
Boko Haram also faces internal fractioning.
Kerry said this at the state house when he visited Buhari in Abuja on Tuesday. It has been marked by deadly attacks and suicide bombings at schools, mosques and marketplaces and mass abductions including almost 300 schoolgirls taken from a remote school in northeastern Chibok town in April 2014.
FILE – In his file image taken from video released late Friday evening, October 31, 2014, by Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, centre, the leader of Nigeria’s Islamic extremist speaks in an unidentified place.
Almost half a million children in areas affected by Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency could suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, a figure that has more than doubled since the beginning of the year, the United Nations children’s agency said Thursday.
The news emerged on Tuesday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the country for talks on tackling the militants. Dozens of the kidnapped girls escaped, but 218 remain missing.
The group, seeking to impose strict Islamic law in the country’s mainly Muslim north, has killed some 20,000 people and displaced as many as 2.6 million others who have been forced to flee their homes since 2009. Shekau has insisted he is still in charge.
Usman listed the killed Boko Haram leaders to include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman.
On the economy, he said that the focus of his administration was on the diversification of the economy having learnt our lessons from years of over dependence on oil.
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