The Nigerian Army said Wednesday that troops of Operation Lafia Dole have killed two senior Boko Haram commanders and several other insurgents at Darul Jamel close to Sambisa forest in Borno State. Shekau was “fatally wounded in the shoulder” during Friday’s raids, said army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving further details.
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Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks at an unknown location in this still image taken from an undated video released by Nigerian Islamist rebel group Boko Haram.
It is open question whether Shekau even leads Boko Haram, however, as the Islamic State group spurred an internal leadership crisis in the organization earlier this month.
Usman said the operation held on August 19, 2016 as the terrorists were performing Friday rituals at Taye village, Gombale general area, within Sambisa forest, Borno state.
There have been recent signs of rifts between at least parts of Boko Haram and Islamic State.
In addendum to the Army’s social media breaking news, it later published an account of how the raid might have wounded the wanted Boko Haram leader. In Abuja, the Secretary will meet with a group of adolescent girls working to change community perceptions that devalue the role of girls in society. But such sales were halted during the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan amid corruption concerns and reports that Nigerian troops had carried out flagrant rights abuses against captured insurgents and innocents deemed to be backing Boko Haram. “We also know that beating Boko Haram on the battlefield is only the beginning of what we must do”, he added.
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Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, Deputy National Chairman of APC North West, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, and some religious leaders were all reportedly present during Kerry’s closed-door meeting with the Sultan at his palace. In May, US officials told Reuters that the US was willing to sell up to 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Nigeria. Authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and Buhari vowed to rescue the others. The formerly undisputed leader of the terrorist group was recently replaced with more ISIS-friendly leadership a year after the group pledged its allegiance to the Syrian-based group and changed its name to ISWAP.
