TOP NEWS
Nigeria arrests 11
Boko Haram suspects,
seizes guns and
bombs
Wed, Sep 12 11:56 AM EDT
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
(Reuters) - Nigerian
authorities arrested 11
suspected members of
Islamist militant group Boko
Haram overnight and
seized automatic weapons,
ammunition and several
homemade bombs, the
military said on
Wednesday.
Boko Haram is waging a
low-level insurgency in the
largely Muslim north of
Nigeria, aiming to revive
an ancient Islamic state
caliphate in the modern
nation of 160 million
people, split roughly
evenly between Muslims
and Christians.
The militants have claimed
responsibility for the
deaths of hundreds of
people since launching an
uprising in 2009.
The men were arrested in
the Waka-Biu region of
Borno state, spokesman
for Borno's military and
police Joint Task Force
(JTF), Lieutenant Colonel
Sagir Musa, said.
They recovered a
submachinegun, seven
AK-47s, 1,568 rounds of
ammunition, 12 empty
shells and 19 homemade
bombs, he said.
Boko Haram, whose
fighters usually target
members of the security
forces, government offices
and churches, started
attacking mobile phone
installations last week,
saying phone companies
were helping authorities to
track them.
A military crackdown on the
group in the north appears
to have weakened their
capabilities, and they have
not managed a deadly
large-scale strike for
several months, although
they are still active across
the north.
Nigeria's government says
it is negotiating with some
Boko Haram members on a
peaceful way out of the
conflict. The sect's
spokesman has denied it is
in talks with authorities but
has never ruled them out
in principle.