Off the wire
• Nigeria says Boko Haram forces teenager to kill hostages, spy on markets  • China, UN launch new plan for hunger reduction cooperation  • Profile: Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic  • Britain, France seal deal on joint development of new missiles  • DPRK slams U.S. lawmakers for attacks against dignity of supreme leadership  • Pakistani senate approves revival of military courts  • Spotlight: May prepares to send EU exit letter to Brussels  • Zambia makes singing of national anthem compulsory at school  • White House on lockdown over suspicious package  • Zambia nabs 55 foreigners for illegal stays  
You are here: 　 Home

Boko Haram defeated, leader on the run: Nigerian minister

Xinhua, March 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

Nigerian troops have defeated terror group Boko Haram and its spiritual leader Abubakar Shekau "is on the run," the country's defense minister Mansur Dan-Ali said Tuesday.

"The (Boko Haram) spiritual headquarters has been ransacked and vandalized. He (Shekau) is on the run, so he may be hiding in one of the enclaves of Sambisa forest that we are dominating," the minister told reporters in Abuja.

He said Shekau, who was twice declared dead by the Nigerian military authorities in 2014, would soon be captured as the troops are now combing the forest for his whereabouts.

Shekau had purportedly released many videos claiming to be alive and threatening to carry out more deadly attacks in the country.

The military said those videos proved to have been doctored following forensic analysis.

"We have dominated the whole stronghold where they used to be. There is where we call 'camp zero', their spiritual and their strong headquarters that they were using as communication base. It was destroyed and as at this same time occupied by our men of the armed forces," the minister said.

The official said the Nigerian military had opened up the Sambisa Forest, which was Boko Haram's largest training camp and has now become a training camp for troops in the northeast region.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the military establishments to redouble their efforts in ensuring peace and stability in the northeast region, Dan-Ali told reporters.

Boko Haram has been blamed for more than 20,000 deaths and displacement of 2.3 million people in Nigeria since 2009. It has also spread its tentacles to countries in the Lake Chad region. Endit