This picture taken on April 30, 2013 shows a Nigerian soldier, part of the 'Operation Flush' patrolling in the remote northeast town of Baga, Borno State. Nigeria's military said on May 16, 2013 that it was ready to launch air strikes against Boko Haram Islamists as several thousand troops moved to the remote northeast to retake territory seized by the insurgents.
This picture taken on April 30, 2013 shows Nigerian troops patrolling in the streets of the remote northeast town of Baga, Borno State. Nigeria's military said on May 16, 2013 that it was ready to launch air strikes against Boko Haram Islamists as several thousand troops moved to the remote northeast to retake territory seized by the insurgents. A force of 'several thousand' soldiers along with fighter jets and helicopter gunships have been deployed for the offensive in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa state, he added.
A poster advertising for the search of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is pasted on a wall in Baga village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in the north-eastern state of Borno May 13, 2013. After a crackdown pushed them out of Nigeria's northern cities, Islamist militant group Boko Haram have regrouped, rearmed and are staging a bold comeback that has already allowed them to seize control over parts of the northeast. Using porous borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the desolate scrubland around Lake Chad, they are smuggling bigger weapons, staging cross-border raids, killing and kidnapping in an escalation of violence that could further draw Nigeria's neighbors into its counter-insurgency fight, security officials say. Boko Haram, under the leadership of fiery, gun-toting militant Abubakar Shekau, is thought to be getting closer to achieving its dream of creating some kind of Islamic rule in the lawless areas around Lake Chad, where even the police have fled.
A picture taken on May 7, 2013 of a vehicle burnt by the Islamist group Boko Haram in the northeastern town of Bama. Nigerian gunmen on May 7, 2013 launched coordinated attacks on military barracks, a prison and police stations killing 55 people and springing 105 inmates, the army said.'Heavily armed Boko Haram terrorists' launched the attacks around 5:00 am (0400 GMT), said Musa Sagir, the military spokesman in nearby Maiduguri, the Islamist group's cradle and stronghold. Sagir said in all 14 prison wardens including a senior officer, two soldiers, 22 policemen, four civilians and 13 Boko Haram gunmen were killed in the attacks in Bama.
A soldier stands in front of a damaged wall and the body of a prison officer killed during an attack on a prison in the northeastern town of Bama, on May 7, 2013. Nigerian gunmen on May 7, 2013 launched coordinated attacks on military barracks, a prison and police stations killing 55 people and springing 105 inmates, the army said.'Heavily armed Boko Haram terrorists' launched the attacks around 5:00 am (0400 GMT), said Musa Sagir, the military spokesman in nearby Maiduguri, the Islamist group's cradle and stronghold. Sagir said in all 14 prison wardens including a senior officer, two soldiers, 22 policemen, four civilians and 13 Boko Haram gunmen were killed in the attacks in Bama.
Injured policemen are seen outside Shehu's Palace of Bama, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. May 7, 2013. Suspected members of Boko Haram armed with machineguns laid siege on the northeastern town of Bama on Tuesday, freeing over 100 prison inmates and leaving 55 people dead, the military said.
