Top Boko Haram commander, militants killed

The Nigerian army said Sunday it killed a top commander of Boko Haram and 10 members of the Islamic extremist group in a night raid in the northeastern part of the country, reports ABC News. Abu Khalid, a commander of Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest in Borno state, was a key figure within ‘the terrorist hierarchy, coordinating operations and logistics in the Sambisa axis,’ army spokesman Sani Uba said. The soldiers attacked the Boko Haram militants on Saturday night in the Kodunga area of Borno state, Uba said, adding that weapons, food items and medical supplies were recovered from the militants. The announcement comes after Boko Haram militants killed dozens of people in two separate attacks on a construction site and military base in the northeastern state last week. Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis, with an insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the northwest and north-central regions over the recent months, In December, the US launched airstrikes in northern Nigeria, targeting Islamic State fighters, after allegations that the West African country failed to rein in attacks on Christians.

Full ABC News report