MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Fighters linked to the radical Islamic terrorist network Boko Haram attacked a military base in Nigeria’s north on Sunday in an assault that left at least 20 people dead, as the network’s leader denied any peace talks
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Fighters linked to the radical Islamic terrorist network Boko Haram attacked a military base in Nigeria’s north on Sunday in an assault that left at least 20 people dead, as the network’s leader denied any peace talks with Nigeria’s government.
The attack in the village of Monguno, some 125 miles from the city of Maiduguri, punctuated the video statement by Abubakar Shekau that said Nigeria will remain under attack by the group until the multiethnic nation is ruled under Islamic law. Shekau also threatened the man who in recent months claimed to be a leader of Boko Haram and said that the group wanted to agree to a cease-fire with Nigeria’s security forces.
The attack Sunday, coupled with the recent kidnappings of foreigners claimed by Boko Haram and its affiliates, offered fresh doubts about the ability of Nigeria’s weak central government to stop the bloodshed, despite its deployment of more security forces in the region.
“Whoever kills any of our members should await a grave retaliation from us,” Shekau says in the video in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north. “We will continue waging war against them until we succeeded in establishing an Islamic state in Nigeria.”
The attack on Monguno saw fighters arrive in SUVs and kill a local village leader, witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press said. The fighters later attacked a barracks at Monguno with gunfire and explosives, witnesses said.
In a statement, military spokesman Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said that 20 “Boko Haram terrorists” were killed, without acknowledging that at least one civilian had been killed. Musa also did not say if any soldiers had been wounded or killed in the attack. Nigeria’s military routinely downplays civilian and soldier casualty figures.
Another security official, who requested anonymity as he could not speak to journalists, confirmed the attack occurred, but acknowledged details remained sketchy about the incident. An AP journalist could not immediately reach the village Sunday.
Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege,” has conducted a guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria’s north over the last two years. Boko Haram is blamed for at least 792 killings last year alone, according to an AP count. The group’s command-and-control structure remains unclear, though it appears to have sparked several splinter groups.
Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation’s weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, human rights groups and local citizens blame both Boko Haram and security forces for committing violent atrocities against the local civilian population, fueling rage in the region.
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
