Nigerian Boko Haram Leader

Nigerian Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has been seriously wounded after trying to kill himself to avoid capture during clashes with rival ISIS-allied jihadists in the north of the country, two intelligence sources said Thursday.

Nigeria's air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and believed it had fatally wounded the group's leader in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland.

Nigerian security agents have arrested the leader of breakaway Boko Haram faction Ansaru, the Ministry of Defense said.

Nigeria's military on Saturday claimed further gains in its counter-offensive against Boko Haram, but the group's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed the talk of success as "lies".

US President Barack Obama on Monday offered strong support for Nigeria's new president, Muhammadu Buhari, saying he had a "clear agenda" for defeating the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and was working to root out corruption.

Boko Haram is fracturing as shortages of weapons and fuel foment tensions between its foot soldiers and leaders, women rescued from the Islamist jihadi fighters by Nigerian troops told Reuters.

Chadian President Idriss Deby on Wednesday vowed to "wipe out" Boko Haram and called on the group's chief Abubakar Shekau to give himself up, warning that he knew where the militant leader was hiding.

A massive crowd of cheering supporters mobbed Nigerian opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari in the embattled northeast city of Maiduguri today, as the candidate vowed tough action against Boko Haram if elected.

Boko Haram has released nearly 200 hostages, most of them women, who were kidnapped from a village in the northeast Nigerian state of Yobe, a community leader and a military source told AFP on Saturday.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for the mass killings in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga and threatened more violence.

A new video from Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram extremists shows gunmen mowing down civilians lying face down in a dorm, and a leader saying they are being killed because they are "infidels" or non-believers.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed on Saturday to hunt down those behind "heinous" attacks which left at least 120 dead at the mosque of a top Islamic leader and vocal critic of Boko Haram.

A man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a new video on Thursday, contradicting Nigerian military reports that he had been killed.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed Nigerian military claims of his death in a new video obtained by AFP on Thursday and said the militants had implemented strict Islamic law in captured towns.

More than 130 Boko Haram Islamist fighters have surrendered to Nigerian forces, and a man posing as the group's leader in numerous videos had been killed in clashes, the military said on Wednesday.

Nigerian Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has been seriously wounded after trying to kill himself to avoid capture during clashes with rival ISIS-allied jihadists in the north of the country, two intelligence sources said Thursday.

Nigeria's air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and believed it had fatally wounded the group's leader in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland.

Nigerian security agents have arrested the leader of breakaway Boko Haram faction Ansaru, the Ministry of Defense said.

Nigeria's military on Saturday claimed further gains in its counter-offensive against Boko Haram, but the group's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed the talk of success as "lies".

US President Barack Obama on Monday offered strong support for Nigeria's new president, Muhammadu Buhari, saying he had a "clear agenda" for defeating the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and was working to root out corruption.

Boko Haram is fracturing as shortages of weapons and fuel foment tensions between its foot soldiers and leaders, women rescued from the Islamist jihadi fighters by Nigerian troops told Reuters.

Chadian President Idriss Deby on Wednesday vowed to "wipe out" Boko Haram and called on the group's chief Abubakar Shekau to give himself up, warning that he knew where the militant leader was hiding.

A massive crowd of cheering supporters mobbed Nigerian opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari in the embattled northeast city of Maiduguri today, as the candidate vowed tough action against Boko Haram if elected.

Boko Haram has released nearly 200 hostages, most of them women, who were kidnapped from a village in the northeast Nigerian state of Yobe, a community leader and a military source told AFP on Saturday.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for the mass killings in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga and threatened more violence.

A new video from Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram extremists shows gunmen mowing down civilians lying face down in a dorm, and a leader saying they are being killed because they are "infidels" or non-believers.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed on Saturday to hunt down those behind "heinous" attacks which left at least 120 dead at the mosque of a top Islamic leader and vocal critic of Boko Haram.

A man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a new video on Thursday, contradicting Nigerian military reports that he had been killed.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed Nigerian military claims of his death in a new video obtained by AFP on Thursday and said the militants had implemented strict Islamic law in captured towns.

More than 130 Boko Haram Islamist fighters have surrendered to Nigerian forces, and a man posing as the group's leader in numerous videos had been killed in clashes, the military said on Wednesday.