Maiduguri - Boko Haram said it controls the northeastern
city of Gwoza and has added it to an Islamic state that it
claims it has established in the country.
Gwoza, in Borno state, is now part of its "Islamic
Caliphate" asserted Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar
Shekau, in a video seen on Sunday.
"We are grateful to god for the big victory he granted our
members in Gwoza and made the town part of our Islamic
Caliphate," Shekau said in the video.
But Nigeria's army said on Twitter: "That claim is empty ...
the Nigerian state is still intact."
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of
emergency in three northeastern states in May last year,
saying the militants had taken over parts of Borno state,
Boko Haram's birthplace.
After the emergency was imposed, the military seemed to
be gaining control of parts of the northeast, killing
militants and sending them fleeing into neighboring states.
But Boko Haram's violent attacks have increased, killing
thousands this year.
A Nigerian military official, who insisted on anonymity
because he is not authorized to speak to the press, on
Monday confirmed that soldiers fighting Boko Haram in
the town of Gamboru Ngala, on the border with
Cameroon, were forced to flee into Cameroonian
territory.
"The fight in Gamboru-Ngala is still ongoing; and our men
are living up to their bid; that is all I can say for now," said
the official. He couldn't give more details on the clash.
More than 4,000 people — mostly civilians — have been
killed this year alone in the conflict, including in attacks by
Boko Haram and in responses by the security forces,
Amnesty International said on Aug. 5. This compares to an
estimated 3,600 people killed in the first four years of the
Islamic extremist insurgency.
Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram began in 2009 but took
the international spotlight in mid-April when the militants
kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, who still remain
captive.
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