Senior Boko Haram Fighters Killed, Leader Wounded In Nigerian Attack
MEP: A number of Boko Haram fighters have been reportedly killed and the leader of the group is believed to be fatally wounded in an air strike carried out by the Nigerian military in the country’s northeast, according to a news-media report citing senior official sources.
Government planes attacked the fighters in the village of Taye inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State on Friday, the air force said, adding it had only just confirmed details of the raid.
“Their leader, so-called Abubakar Shekau, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders,” army spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said in a statement on Tuesday.
Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders – Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman – were confirmed dead and several others wounded.
The military has reported the death of Boko Haram’s Shekau in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements. There was no immediate reaction from the group, which communicates with the media only by videos.
There has been no immediate comment so far from Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Daesh terror group.
