05/19/2013 18:33 GMT

by Timothy Kolajo

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, May 19, 2013 (AFP) - A key city in northeast Nigeria was on lockdown Sunday as the military enforced a 24-hour curfew and blocked supply routes in its sweeping campaign against Islamist insurgents.

The operation against Boko Haram, the group that wants an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, is aimed at retaking territory seized by the militants and ridding the country of "terrorist activities," the military has said.

05/17/2013 19:41 GMT

by Aminu ABUBAKAR

KANO, Nigeria, May 17, 2013 (AFP) - Nigeria's military on Friday attacked Boko Haram Islamist strongholds across the northeast, launching air strikes on insurgent camp with dozens of militants killed in the fighting, the military said.

Several thousand soldiers have spread across three northeastern states where President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency, saying Boko Haram had seized territory and declared war on the government.

05/15/2013 15:50 GMT

by Ola Awoniyi

ABUJA, May 15, 2013 (AFP) - Nigeria's military on Wednesday announced the "massive"deployment of troops to its restive northeast, after the president declared a state of emergency in areas where Islamist insurgents have seized territory.

A separate military source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that fighter jets would also be deployed to the region, raising the possibility that Nigeria could carry out air strikes within its own territory.

05/10/2013 19:04 GMT

ABUJA, May 10, 2013 (AFP) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday held emergency talks with his security chiefs on a recent spate of deadly violence in the country which has left some 350 dead in less than a month, in mostly religious clashes.

"It is an emergency security meeting at the instance of Mr President... because of insecurity and loss of lives," Police Affairs Minister Caleb Olubolade told journalists.

05/08/2013 20:37 GMT

ABUJA, May 08, 2013 (AFP) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday hit out at gunmen he called "armed terrorists" who launched attacks on military barracks, a prison and police stations in Bama town in which 55 people were killed.

A statement released by his office in Abuja said Jonathan warned that his government's consideration of dialogue with insurgents should not be seen as a sign of weakness.

05/05/2013 20:02 GMT

KANO, Nigeria, May 05, 2013 (AFP) - A group of gunmen Sunday stormed a village in northeast Nigeria on the border with Cameroon killing 10 residents in attacks on a church and a market, police said.

The gunmen opened fire on a market square in Njilang village in Adamawa state, killing six people before storming a local church in the same village where they killed four worshippers, Mohammed Ibrahim, the state police spokesman, told AFP.

The population in the Nigeria town of Baga is in "terrible shock," with a woefully inadequate rescue mission unable to care for thousands of victims.

04/26/2013 13:00 GMT

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, April 26, 2013 (AFP) - An attack Thursday in restive northern Nigeria where suspected Islamists stormed a police station and stole nearly $60,000 from a bank killed 20 insurgents and five officers, the local police chief said.

"Five policemen and 20 gunmen have been confirmed dead when some Boko Haram Terrorist attacked police formations in Gashua town," the Yobe state police commissioner, Sanusi Rufai, told journalists Friday.

Nigeria's military had previously given a toll of seven dead in Thursday's clash.

04/24/2013 14:33 GMT

ABUJA, April 24, 2013 (AFP) - The head of a panel set up to seek an amnesty deal with Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram voiced confidence Wednesday that members of the insurgent group could be brought into talks.

The statement came as rescue workers deployed to the remote northeastern town of Baga, where the Red Cross says fierce gun battles killed 187 people.

The military has disputed this figure, but the toll makes the Baga violence the deadliest-ever episode in the Boko Haram insurgency, which has killed thousands since 2009.