₦airaland Forum

#MGL's

Fidha254:
http://intelligencebriefs.com/somali-national-army-sna-refute-claims-that-al-shabaab-captured-el-wak-town/

Your source is not well detailed enough.

It was captured but retaken by kenya forces. Your source never said anything pertaining if there was an attack that was repelled or the border town was captured and retaken shortly afterwards.

FG: We’ll ensure prosecution of Boko Haram terrorists, suspects


http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/12/fg-well-ensure-prosecution-of-boko-haram-terrorists-suspects/‎

Gambia crisis: Ecowas 'could send troops' if Jammeh refuses to go


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38302533?ocid=socialflow_twitter

#NA

Another Nigerian Army Lt. Col. killed by suspected Boko Haram terrorists


Another senior Nigerian Army officer has been killed by suspected Boko Haram militants, military insiders have told PREMIUM TIMES.
The officer, O. Umusu, a Lieutenant Colonel and Commanding Officer, 118 Task Force Battalion in Borno State, was killed alongside his security details, by an Improvised Explosive Device in an ambush Monday evening.
Military insiders said the officer and his men were returning from Maiduguri to their location towards Baga. The incident happened between Zare and Gudumbali.
One source said the the commanding officer was in the company of the battalion adjutant when the incident occurred.
“His car ran into the unsuspected IED buried on the road,” one source said. “Only the CO (commanding officer)  died while being evacuated to Maiduguri for expert management.”
His remains were evacuated to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital, our sources said.
This is the fourth lieutenant colonel the army is losing in two months.
The affected officers were Lt. Col K Yusuf (October 16, 2016), Lt.  Col Abu Ali (November 4, 2016),  Lt.  Col B. U. Umar  (November 15, 2016)  and Lt. Col O. Umusu (12 December 2016).


Another officer, Lt.  Col K Yusuf,  went missing in action and the army is still searching for him.
The spokesman of Operation Lafiya Dole could not be reached immediately to comment for this story. 
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been mourning Mr. Umusu on Facebook.
A childhood friend, Funsho Yusuf, said, “I have known Lt Col Otos Umusu since the age of 11. He has always been a courageous and highly resolute man. We have been good friends for over 25 years. Otos as he is fondly called was responsible for channeling supplies to our troops in the frontlines for a few years.
“He was promoted last year and became a commanding officer of one of the units combating insurgency in North-East Nigeria. I interacted with Otos two nights ago till around 3am on Saturday. I remembered him throwing a jibe at me for not visiting his more volatile location in Madagali during my recent tour of the North East.
“He also raised his observation on the fight against insurgency being intensified in the media rather than on ground. I looked into his eyes with sympathy as I appreciated his selfless sacrifice and those of our other troops who are fighting with limited resources.
“To be honest, I usually pray in my heart we see again whenever I parted ways with anyone serving in North-East Nigeria. I was heartbroken to hear about your passing this morning. You are a hero and should never be forgotten,I pray to God almighty to give your family the fortitude to bear your loss. You shall certainly rest in peace my Colonel.”


http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/217777-breaking-another-nigerian-army-lt-col-killed-by-suspected-boko-haram-terrorists.html

#MRAPS

Buratai, Buhari and December Deadline on Boko Haram


http://northeaststaronline.com/?p=1597#

#NPF

Al-Shabaab launch night attack in Mandera


Militant group al-Shabaab has attacked Mandera County for the second time in 24 hours, the terror group is reported to have raided a village near Kutulo town.

The militants are reported to have attacked and captured Chuma Mrefu village near Kutulo town, on Monday night, December 12. According to residents the militants had sourrounded the village before capturing.
The militants are said to have destroyed several tele-communication masts in the area before retreating.

Residents said the attackers bombed the area, but the number casualties is yet to be confirmed.The Kenyan government is yet to respond about the latest terror attack, that came less than 24 hours after a similar one at Daba City also in Mandera County.

Al-Shabaab attacked Daba City and destroyed a Safaricom communication mast after they overpowered police reservists guarding it.

Al Shabaab Breifly Takes Town Near Kenya Border


Hundreds of gun-toting Al shabaab fighters have briefly retaken control of El Wak town in Gedo region, near Somali border with Kenya following a deadly overnight raid, Military said.

According to senior Somali army officers in the region, who spoke to Radio Shabelle at least four SNA soldiers have been slightly wounded in the Al shabaab attack on El Wak city.

Somali government forces were pushed out the town following a fierce battle.

Al shabaab fighters pulled out of El Wak before Somali National Army forces backed by Kenyan military retook the town on Monday morning.

Odunayaw:
I hope they r kitted well for "counter terrorism" and r gr8 shooters

good morning Sir

Good morning Sir.

Them try too...

#NAF (EC135)

Odunayaw:
NPF CTU

who knows the training regimen for these blokes

I don't know much about them but they attend the same training regiment has our army who are trained in counter terrorism unit in Niger & Jaji etc. And some are send abroad on special anti-terrorist course mostly for officers.

US confirms death of high-profile Tunisian Islamic State assassin


The US Defense Department has confirmed that Boubaker al-Hakim, a French-Tunisian Islamic State leader pictured below, was killed in airstrikes carried out in Raqqa, Syria on Nov. 26.

In a statement on Dec. 10, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook described al-Hakim as a “longtime terrorist with deep ties to French and Tunisian Jihadist elements.” Cook tied al-Hakim to the so-called caliphate’s external operations arm, saying his death “degrades” the Islamic State’s “ability to conduct further attacks in the West” and denies the group “a veteran extremist with extensive ties.”

Cook also noted that al-Hakim is “suspected of involvement” in terrorist attacks against “Tunisian political leadership” in 2013. Indeed, al-Hakim admitted in an interview with the Islamic State’s Dabiq magazine in early 2015 that he assassinated one Tunisian politician and knew the jihadists responsible for killing a second.




Al-Hakim was identified as Abū Muqātil at-Tūnusī in the 8th issue of Dabiq, which was released online in March 2015. He bragged about killing Mohammed Brahmi, the leader of the People’s Movement party, on July 25, 2013.

“We stayed four hours in front of the home of this tyrant, waiting, until he left the home and entered his car,” al-Hakim told Dabiq. “I then moved towards him and killed him by shooting ten bullets at him.”

“We wanted to cause chaos…in the lands by killing Brahmi so as to facilitate the brothers’ movements and so that we would be able to bring in weapons and liberate our brothers from prisons,” al-Hakim said, explaining the rationale behind Brahmi’s slaying. “This was the main goal behind killing Brahmi in addition to the fact that he worked in [Tunisia’s] Constituent Assembly making him from the tawāghīt [apostate rulers] of the country.”

Al-Hakim also identified three jihadists who were responsible for the assassination of another Tunisian politician, Chokri Belaid, on Feb. 6, 2013. One of them was known as Ahmad ar-Ruwaysī. According to al-Hakim, ar-Ruwaysī escaped from prison following the uprising in Tunisia in 2011 and fled to Libya, where he helped run a training camp and smuggle arms back into Tunisia. After Belaid was killed, ar-Ruwaysī became a wanted man and so he stayed in Libya. Al-Hakim told Dabiq that ar-Ruwaysī joined the Islamic State in Sirte, which was the group’s stronghold in North Africa from mid-2015 until earlier this year. It was in Sirte that ar-Ruwaysī swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s operation before dying in battle.

His interview with Dabiq wasn’t the first time al-Hakim admitted a role in the assassinations of Brahmi and Belaid.

In Dec. 2014, the Islamic State released a video calling on Muslims to support the group’s jihad in Tunisia. Al-Hakim starred in the production.

“Yes, O tyrants, we are the ones who assassinated Chokri Belaid and Brahmi, and, Allah permitting, we will return,” al-Hakim said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Al-Hakim announced his fealty to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and encouraged Tunisians to pledge their own allegiance to the Islamic State’s master. He also threatened France. “We will tear apart that flag that was raised by the grandchildren of Charles de Gaulle” and “the grandchildren of Napoleon,” raising the black banner of monotheism in its place, al-Hakim said.

A veteran jihadist

Al-Hakim briefly recounted additional biographical details in his interview with Dabiq. He said that his “religious practice started in 2002” when he traveled “to Sham,” meaning the Levant (Syria), “to study the Sharia.” After the Americans entered Iraq in 2003, al-Hakim briefly joined the jihad there for “about a month” before being “betrayed by some of the hypocrites” and “forced to leave.”

Al-Hakim then went to France, where he “prepared for another journey” to Iraq. He joined Abu Musab al Zarqawi’s group. He met up with Zarqawi and his men in Fallujah, staying in the city for “about six or seven months.” Al-Hakim said he left Iraq for Syria “to receive my family,” but “was arrested there.” He was then imprisoned in Bashar al Assad’s notorious and controversial Far’ Falastin prison, which housed other well-known jihadists, “for nine months.” He was deported to France and “imprisoned there for seven years.”

Al-Hakim said his time in a French prison was “difficult,” but it was also “a great gate for da’wah [proselytization] to Allah” and a “school” for indoctrinating others in the jihadist ideology.

It appears that al-Hakim returned to Tunisia around the time of the Arab uprisings in 2011. “I then left back to Tunisia and started planning on establishing jihād in Tunisia with my brothers,” al-Hakim told Dabiq. “Libya was next to us and weapons were widespread there,” al-Hakim continued. “So we went to Libya and established a training camp there” and “would work to smuggle weapons into Tunisia.”

Al-Hakim portrayed the assassinations of Belaid and Brahmi as a strategic failure, admitting that the slayings did not spark a broader jihadi revolution. “The matter succeeded but some of those associated with jihād there, may Allah guide them, went out and defended the former government institutions and thereby ruined our mission,” al-Hakim told Dabiq. “After all these attempts I decided to go to Shām and join the Islamic State there.”

The French-Tunisian jihadist was also especially critical of the Islamists in Tunisia who failed to support the supposed caliphate’s cause. Al-Hakim called on Tunisia’s Islamists to “repent,” arguing that their “ideas” and participation in elections “have not brought you any results.” Only armed jihad was sufficient, from al-Hakim’s perspective.

In his interview with Dabiq, al-Hakim praised the March 18, 2015 attack on the Bardo National Museum. Dozens of people, mainly foreign tourists, were killed or wounded in the massacre. Al-Hakim said this “delighted us and healed our hearts,” adding that other “brothers” should carry out similar operations. CNN reported that he is also suspected of having connections to the jihadi gunman who killed 38 people at a tourist beach near Sousse, Tunisia on June 26, 2015.

Tied to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, European jihadists

Al-Hakim was designated as a terrorist by both the United Nations and the US State Department in Sept. 2015. Both designations noted al-Hakim’s reported “ties” to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, which was orchestrated the Sept. 14, 2012 assault on the US Embassy in Tunis.

The designations noted that al-Hakim “worked with related associates to target Western diplomats in North Africa,” but didn’t specifically tie him to the ransacking of the American embassy. Just days earlier, Ansar al Sharia Libya was part of a coalition of al Qaeda groups that attacked and killed four Americans in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012.

The Tunisian government first reported al-Hakim’s connections with Ansar al Sharia Tunisia in 2013. Officials accused Ansar al Sharia’s leader, Seifallah Ben Hassine (also known as Abu Iyad al Tunisi), of ordering the hit on Belaid. Tunisian authorities also reported that a forensic investigation tied the killings of Belaid and Brahmi to the same jihadi network and even the same weapon. [See FDD’s Long War Journal reports: Tunisian government alleges longtime jihadist involved in assassinations and Ansar al Sharia responds to Tunisian government.]

After the Ansar al Sharia groups gained international infamy in 2012, many accounts sought to distance them from al Qaeda’s network. However, as The Long War Journal reported at the time, the Ansar al Sharia organizations in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen all had demonstrable ties to al Qaeda. The Long War Journal’s analysis was subsequently confirmed by the details reported in UN and American designations, as well as other evidence.

The rise of the Islamic State in 2013 and 2014 led some jihadists, such as al-Hakim, to defect to the self-declared caliphate’s cause. Others, including Ansar al Sharia Tunisia leader Hassine, remained loyal to the al Qaeda network. According to letters that were released via social media, Hassine initially urged Ayman al Zawahiri to join the Islamic State’s then surging effort. But Hassine quickly did an about-face, concluding that Baghdadi and his followers were too extreme even for al Qaeda. Some sources have reported that Hassine was killed in 2015, but his demise was never confirmed.

Al-Hakim and his comrades went all in for the Islamic State. In the Dec. 2014 video, he called on jihadists in Tunisia to defect to Baghdadi’s enterprise en masse. “I call on my brothers in Tunisia in general and my brothers in the mountains in particular to follow their brothers in Libya, Algeria, the Land of the Two Holy Mosques [Saudi Arabia], Yemen, and Sinai, and pledge allegiance to the Emir of the Believers,” al-Hakim said, according SITE’s translation. While some answered the call, others didn’t. For instance, the Uqba bin Nafi battalion in the Mount Chaambi region remained loyal to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The divide among al-Hakim’s jihadi friends extended all the way into Europe. When al-Hakim’s death was widely reported earlier this month, some accounts linked him to the mass murder at Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris in Jan. 2015. That operation was carried out by two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi. It is likely that al-Hakim, who was born in Paris, knew one or both of the Kouachi brothers in France. Al-Hakim was a key figure in a recruiting cell based in the 19th Arrondisement of Paris. Al-Hakim’s network sent aspiring jihadists off to fight in Iraq and the Kouachis were tied to this same operation.

However, al-Hakim did not specifically mention the Charlie Hebdo attack in his interview with Dabiq, which was posted online more than two months after the fact. The Kouachis carried out the assault on behalf of al Qaeda and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). A friend of the Kouachis, Amedy Coulibaly, murdered others in the name of the Islamic State. But the Kouachis did not follow Coulibaly into the caliphate’s camp. In reality, while their specific allegiances differed, they were all jihadis and knew each others years beforehand.

While al Qaeda is still capable of plotting a mass-casualty attack and celebrates indiscriminate killings in the West, the group has also experimented with more targeted slayings, such as the Charlie Hebdo operation. An AQAP analysis, for example, explained that al Qaeda’s central leadership had selected “particular target[s]” to strike.

Al-Hakim was less interested in this style of terror. In Dabiq, he called on jihadis in France to lash out. “I also say to them, do not look for specific targets,” al-Hakim stressed. “Kill anybody. All the kuffār [unbelievers] over there are targets. Don’t tire yourself and look for difficult targets. Kill whoever is over there from the kuffār.”

Nigeria: Armed Forces Retire 507, Train Military Retirees for Post-Service Life


http://allafrica.com/stories/201612110425.html

Odunayaw:
these r regular troops ryt?
that webbing in pic 1 shld be given to all without DICON vests

; yeap d regulars.

All soldiers in the north east are issued with bullet proof vest, some bullet proof comes with magazine space but seems those type of vest does not carry sufficient magazine and high percentage with separate magazine carriers. But most of our troops choose not to carry it always and some even do without bullet proof vest.

Probably d intense heat in Maiduguri and it's neighbouring environs. But why issue magazine carriers without bullet proofs if I may ask.......?

Vladimir Putin condolences to President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari


http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/53448

NA

bidexiii:
Buhari drops two Service Chiefs


http://www.news24.com.ng/National/News/buhari-drops-two-service-chiefs-20161212

PRESS RELEASE

RE: BUHARI DROPS TWO SERVICE CHIEFS.

1. The attention of the Honourable Minister of Defence Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali was drawn to some online publications claiming that he has sent letters to the Chief of Defence Staff General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin and Chief of the Naval staff Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas directing them to hand over their offices on or before friday, 16 december.

2. Please be informed that there was no such communication between the office of the Honourable Minister of Defence and the service chiefs directing any one of them to hand over his office and proceed on retirement. The appointment and replacement of service chiefs is a prerogative responsibility of the office of the President and Commander in Chief.

3. Please endevour to always balance your stories from the right sources to avoid mischef.

4. You are requested to kindly disseminate to the general public.

Colonel Tukur Gusau
Public Relations officer
to the Hon Minister of Defence.

Buhari drops two Service Chiefs


http://www.news24.com.ng/National/News/buhari-drops-two-service-chiefs-20161212

giles14:
please were did u now keep Algeria and Tunisia.

the south African maybe one of the best in subsaharan Africa but definitely not the best in Africa.

For me I'll take tunisia.

They d best anti-terrorist police squad/special response police unit (STF)

MORE

29 fatalities in Al Shabaab bombing in Somali capital (PHOTOS, VIDEO)


https://www.rt.com/news/369919-somalia-port-bombing-shabaab/

Odunayaw:
#MemoryLane

boys been showing standard since time immemorial
51st (Nigeria) Field Company, West African Engineers.

..

Odunayaw:
holy sh1t!!!!
come.. why do these bats like wahala

They love the wahala too much.

But when the wrath of the force is upon them...they say it's too harsh. that's someone husband, child & bread winner that was beheaded...

#CION.

PRESS RELEASE BY GOC 6 DIVISION NIGERIAN ARMY

1. The alleged killing and mass arrest by soldiers in Tai, Ogoni, Gokhna-Ogoni LGA of Rivers State were false. It is true that soldiers of 6 Division Nigerian Army provided security during the Rivers State Legislative Re-run Election that was conducted today. In addition, the allegations made by some respected politicians regarding deep involvement of soldiers during the elections were aimed at tarnishing the positive image of the Army.
2. These people allegedly accused soldiers of ballot box snatching, illegal escorts of some politicians, arrest and detention of voters during the general conduct of the elections. The weighty nature of these allegations could cause members of the public to view soldiers negatively, hence the need to adequately inform the general public on the true perspective. The public thus need to consider them as mere farce to garner public sympathy.
3. The 6 Division, Nigerian Army remained apolitical in the conduct of the election. Its soldiers provided perimeter defence to ward off hoodlums and miscreants. Nigerian Army troops were in no way involved in any form of ballot box snatching, neither were they involved in the escort of politicians as alleged. They acted swiftly in response to security breaches in order to enforce the law, provide aid to the Nigeria Police and other security agencies especially in areas like Abonema, Etche, Gokhana, Ikwere, Eleme, Tai, Khana and Omoku amongst others. Susceptibility of mentioned areas warranted providing security for the electoral officials, voters, international and local observers, in conjunction with other security agencies by soldiers for a peaceful election to thrive in the environment.
4. These areas were rift with armed men that engaged security personnel. In Gokhana, armed hoodlums engaged the soldiers providing outer perimeter defence for the electorates. In Abonema at 0730 hours today, there were 3 explosions that created bedlam. Subsequently, 11 NYSC members were abducted along with electoral materials. However, 10 of them were rescued 2 hrs later by the soldiers while one was rescued about 8hrs later.
5. At Emouha, Mr Oblewaremu abducted 5 NYSC members with election materials in a Siena bus. The corps members were rescued while the suspect was handed over to the Police. Several shooting were recorded in some communities such as Bodo, the home town of the secretary to the State Government, B-dere and Mogho in Gokhana LGA, including snatching of ballot boxes. The most brutal incidence occurred at Ujju Community near Omoku in Onelga where police patrol team was ambushed. In the ambush, 10 policemen scampered into the bush.
6. The Mobile Police organized a rescue mission. Regrettably, the team discovered that DSP Alkali Mohammed of Mobile Police Unit 48 was beheaded along with his orderly. The patrol vehicle was taken away with weapons, 3 policemen escaped while 5 were missing in action. This is the same area where soldiers of 34 Brigade were ambushed on 20 November 2016 where a soldier was killed. Also on 21 November 2016, 4 personnel of NSCDC were killed and their weapons carted away. These attacks are reasonable evidence of violations of breach of law and order which portray the area as a flash point. Despite these barbarism, soldiers acted with civility and professionally guaranteeing peaceful election.
7. Nigerian Army as a respected institution with constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property, could not watch miscreants and hoodlums abducting, maiming and killing innocent citizens especially in senseless attacks on uniform personnel. The Rivers State Re-Run Election was adjudged credible, free, fair and peaceful in many parts of the State. Accusations of soldiers partisanship therefore was sham and phony. The Division would continue to maintain apolitical posture in discharge of its roles to ensure provision of adequate security in Rivers State.

Army Kill Five Boko Haram Terrorists In Yobe


https://www.channelstv.com/2016/12/11/army-kill-five-boko-haram-terrorists-in-yobe/

Headquarters, Theatre Command, OP Lafiya Dole, Maiduguri. NE Nigeria

CAPTURED CLUSTER MUNITIONS FROM B.H.T SOMETIMES LAST YEAR USUALLY USED HAS SURFACE LAIDEN I.E.D.

Q1 2015: A Bofors FH77 155mm artillery piece at Konduga pounds hostile targets at Bama, 22 miles away.