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THE death of Boko Haram warlord Abubakar Shekau could spark a bloody ISIS uprising in west Africa, experts fear. Shekau is said to have blown himself up as he was hunted down by rival terror group Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), which is now poised to dominate the region. Iswap claimed they had orders to kill Shekau from ISIS commanders in the Middle East, who were concerned at his indiscriminate killing of Muslims. They raided his forest lair in Nigeria last month, reportedly inflicting heavy casualties with weapons mounted on pickup trucks. Iswap leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi claimed Shekau...

The leader of Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram is dead, according to reports. News agency Reuters said it had heard an audio recording made by Boko Haram's rivals The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), which said Abubakar Shekau died around 18 May. He died after detonating an explosive device, according to a person on the recording who identified himself as ISWAP leader Abu Musab al Barnawi. Al Barnawi said his fighters had sought the warlord on orders of Islamic State leadership, chasing him and offering him the chance to repent and join them. "Shekau preferred to be humiliated...

Fighters from the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the town in Borno state three times in a week to strike a military garrison, burning homes and a UN office and killing at least 12 people. ABUJA, Nigeria - As many as 65,000 people have fled the northeastern Nigeria town of Damasak following a series of jihadist attacks, the UN refugee agency said on Friday. Fighters from the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the town in Borno state three times in a week to strike a military garrison, burning homes and a UN office and...

Vatican City, Dec 2, 2020 / 11:30 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that he was praying for Nigeria following a massacre of at least 110 farmers in which Islamist militants beheaded an estimated 30 people. “I want to assure my prayers for Nigeria, where blood has unfortunately been spilled once more in a terrorist massacre,” the pope said at the end of his general audience Dec. 2. “Last Saturday, in the northeast of the country, more than 100 farmers were brutally killed. May God welcome them in His peace and comfort their families, and convert the hearts of...

French military forces fighting Islamic extremists in West Africa killed more than 50 jihadists and detained four in an operation last week in Mali, French officials said. Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted Monday night that the French force in the region also confiscated weapons and equipment from the fighters in the operation last Friday, which she said “shows once again that terrorist groups cannot act with impunity.” Drones monitoring the region in northern Mali spotted a convoy of suspected fighters on motorcycles, prompting France to launch the operation, first with airstrikes and then with a ground operation by French commandos,...

Troops eliminate terrorists in Damboa Troops of the Nigerian military successfully prevented attempts by members of Boko Haram insurgency group to attack their base in Damboa, Borno State on Sunday evening, killing 38 of the terrorists, PR Nigeria, a website known for reporting activities of security operatives has said. The website, which said its report was based on information from a top military intelligence officer however said five soldiers were also killed during the battle with the insurgents. The source added that bodies of the terrorists were recovered during a mopping-up operation. He was quoted to have said: “I can...

ISLAMIC State is taking over swathes of Africa like it did in Syria and Iraq with "staggeringly brutal" tactics, the Pentagon has warned. According to a report from West Point, the US officer training academy, the group's expansion and regrouping on the continent shows "Islamic State is far from defeated". "By the summer of 2020, it had become resolutely clear that the Islamic State was a changed organisation, but by no means a beaten one," the report, published by West Point’s Combating Terrorism Centre, said. The Pentagon report said there has been a "marked upward curve of claimed cumulative attacks...

Suspected Fulani extremists murdered a Christian man in an ambush-style attack as he and two others walked home from work. According to the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria, Justine Patrick was 25 when he was killed earlier this month. He was walking home from work with his coworkers Daniel Gyang and Sele Dung through some maize fields about an hour before sunset on Oct. 14, Gyang said. Patrick walked behind Gyang and Dung. “We never knew that a group of seven Fulani had already ambushed us,” Gyang said. The attackers rushed from the bush, raising sticks, machetes and...

Two facilitators from the Bible Society of Cameroon’s literacy program in the Far North region have been killed by Boko Haram over the past few weeks. After a two-year lull, attacks by Islamic militant group Boko Haram in that region are on the rise again, and are claiming many victims. Among the lives recently lost were two literacy facilitators from the Bible Society of Cameroon’s Alpha Program in the Parkwa language. One of them died in early August, and the second in mid-September. Jonas, 42, an elder in the Union of Evangelical Churches in Cameroon, was killed on the night...

The insurgents attacked the farmers on Sunday as they were harvesting crops in Moranti outside Maiduguri. Eight farmers have been killed by Boko Haram jihadists in northeastern Nigeria, security sources said Monday. The insurgents attacked the farmers on Sunday as they were harvesting crops in Moranti outside Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, two sources said. “The attackers used knives, not guns, to kill all eight farmers, so as not to attract attention,” militia leader Babakura Kolo said. Local communities have resorted to armed vigilantes or militias, who work alongside the army, as self-defense. “They (Boko Haram) hacked the farmers...

Fourteen soldiers killed in jihadist attack (Nigeria) ISIS fighters launched an assault on a military base in the northeast of the country on Saturday. Several soldiers are also missing. Jihadists linked to the Islamic State (IS) organization killed 14 Nigerian soldiers in an attack on a military base in the northeast of the country, military sources said on Saturday. Several soldiers are missing. Two sources, who requested anonymity, told AFP that fighters from the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) group attacked the Jakana military base on Friday with machine guns and grenade launchers, a offensive followed by intense fighting....

Nigeria: Elections postponed after Islamic State murders 42 in attack on governor’s election convoy “The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram offshoot, claimed responsibility for a deadly attack this week on a state governor’s election motorcade in Nigeria that may have involved some beheadings days before people in the African country head to the polls on Saturday.” And now the elections have been postponed. Intimidation is at the root of jihad. And this shows why: it works. Last month, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria issued a security alert for American citizens, warning that Boko Haram and its...

“Boko Haram came and told us they were moving out and said that we should run away with them. But we said no… Then they started stoning us. I held my baby to my stomach and doubled over to protect her,” 27-year-old Lami Musa told the Associated Press. Musa escaped along with her five-month-old baby. Boko Haram recently changed its name officially to the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. The rescue does not mean the crisis is over, as the Nigerian government must now resolve how to reintegrate these survivors into society. It is not known exactly where...