Breaking News: Explosion in Maiduguri Kills at Least 15 People

MAIDUGURI  (AFP) – A huge explosion in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Tuesday killed at least 15 people, an AFP photographer said, in the latest blast to hit the city repeatedly attacked by Boko Haram Islamists.

After the explosion in a truck carrying charcoal at the city’s biggest roundabout during morning rush hour, victims were taken to the State Specialist Hospital, where the photographer saw the bodies of 15 people killed in the blast, while witnesses said the toll could be much higher.

Vanguard Newspaper

Boko Haram: National Conference Delegate Receives Message of 'Imminent' Attack

A revelation by a member of the National Conference that he had received a threat message from terrorists caused a scare at the confab on Monday.

The delegate, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), told the conference that he received a message on his telephone threatening an “attack bigger than Nyanya blast” and sought the permission of the Chairman of the confab, Justice Idris Kutigi (retd.), to read the message.

Kutigi granted the permission and Ozekhome accordingly read the text.

The message, which Ozekhome also forwarded to our correspondent later, read, “News got to us that our enemy is planning something bigger than Nyanya blast between Tuesday and Wednesday, in Abuja. Mind your movement and be careful. The date is still unknown. Please, pass it around to save loved ones.”

After listening to the text of the message, one of the delegates, who asked not to be named, shouted, “We are in trouble in this country. Bombing everywhere; when will this stop? Even here, we don’t know what is going to happen. Things are so bad in the country. Things are so bad.”

Many of the delegates were seeing discussing the development in hushed tones but with panic on their faces.

None of them was willing to speak with The PUNCH on the matter on Monday.

Another delegate, Obi Onoliefo, had on Thursday last week, raised the issue of safety of delegates when, having looked at the perimeter of the National Judicial Institute, observed that there were no security operatives manning them.

Onoliefo, therefore, called for security operatives to be drafted to the perimeter fences to forestall insurgents from breaking into the premises and causing bloodshed.

Courtesy:

Punch Newspaper

How Boko Haram 'Outsmarts' U.S. Efforts to Choke its Financing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Washington imposed sanctions in June 2012 on Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, he dismissed it as an empty gesture.

Two years later, Shekau’s skepticism appears well founded: his Islamic militant group is now the biggest security threat to Africa's top oil producer, is richer than ever, more violent and its abductions of women and children continue with impunity.

As the United States, Nigeria and others struggle to track and choke off its funding, Reuters interviews with more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials who closely follow Boko Haram provide the most complete picture to date of how the group finances its activities.

Central to the militant group’s approach includes using hard-to-track human couriers to move cash, relying on local funding sources and engaging in only limited financial relationships with other extremists groups. It also has reaped millions from high-profile kidnappings.

"Our suspicions are that they are surviving on very lucrative criminal activities that involve kidnappings," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview.

Until now, U.S. officials have declined to discuss Boko Haram’s financing in such detail.

The United States has stepped up cooperation with Nigeria to gather intelligence on Boko Haram, whose militants are killing civilians almost daily in its northeastern Nigerian stronghold. But the lack of international financial ties to the group limit the measures the United States can use to undermine it, such as financial sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury normally relies on a range of measures to track financial transactions of terrorist groups, but Boko Haram appears to operate largely outside the banking system.

To fund its murderous network, Boko Haram uses primarily a system of couriers to move cash around inside Nigeria and across the porous borders from neighbouring African states, according to the officials interviewed by Reuters.

In designating Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation last year, the Obama administration characterized the group as a violent extremist organisation with links to al Qaeda.

The Treasury Department said in a statement to Reuters that the United States has seen evidence that Boko Haram has received financial support from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), an offshoot of the jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden.

But that support is limited. Officials with deep knowledge of Boko Haram's finances say that any links with al Qaeda or its affiliates are inconsequential to Boko Haram's overall funding.

"Any financial support AQIM might still be providing Boko Haram would pale in comparison to the resources it gets from criminal activities," said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Assessments differ, but one U.S. estimate of financial transfers from AQIM was in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. That compares with the millions of dollars that Boko Haram is estimated to make through its kidnap and ransom operations.

LUCRATIVE KIDNAPPING RACKET

Ransoms appear to be the main source of funding for Boko Haram's five-year-old Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims, said the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In February last year, armed men on motorcycles snatched Frenchman Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife and four children, and his brother while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in Cameroon, close to the Nigerian border.

Boko Haram was paid an equivalent of about $3.15 million by French and Cameroonian negotiators before the hostages were released, according to a confidential Nigerian government report later obtained by Reuters.

Figures vary on how much Boko Haram earns from kidnappings. Some U.S. officials estimate the group is paid as much as $1 million for the release of each abducted wealthy Nigerian.

It is widely assumed in Nigeria that Boko Haram receives support from religious sympathizers inside the country, including some wealthy professionals and northern Nigerians who dislike the government, although little evidence has been made public to support that assertion.

Current and former U.S. and Nigerian officials say Boko Haram's operations do not require significant amounts of money, which means even successful operations tracking and intercepting their funds are unlikely to disrupt their campaign.

Boko Haram had developed "a very diversified and resilient model of supporting itself," said Peter Pham, a Nigeria scholar at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington.

"It can essentially 'live off the land' with very modest additional resources required," he told a congressional hearing on June 11.

LOW-COST WEAPONS

"We’re not talking about a group that is buying sophisticated weapons of the sort that some of the jihadist groups in Syria and other places are using. We’re talking AK-47s, a few rocket-propelled grenades, and bomb-making materials. It is a very low-cost operation," Pham told Reuters.

That includes paying local youth just pennies a day to track and report on Nigerian troop movements.

Much of Boko Haram's military hardware is not bought, it is stolen from the Nigerian army.

In February, dozens of its fighters descended on a remote military outpost in the Gwoza hills in northeastern Borno state, looting 200 mortar bombs, 50 rocket-propelled grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. [ID:nL3N0OD3BU]

Such raids have left the group well armed. In dozens of attacks in the past year Nigerian soldiers were swept aside by militants driving trucks, motor bikes and sometimes even stolen armoured vehicles, firing rocket-propelled grenades.

Boko Haram's inner leadership is security savvy, not only in the way it moves money but also in its communications, relying on face-to-face contact, since messages or calls can be intercepted, the current and former U.S. officials said.

"They're quite sophisticated in terms of shielding all of these activities from legitimate law enforcement officials in Africa and certainly our own intelligence efforts trying to get glimpses and insight into what they do," a former U.S. military official said.

U.S. officials acknowledge that the weapons that have served Washington so well in its financial warfare against other terrorist groups are proving less effective against Boko Haram.

"My sense is that we have applied the tools that we do have but that they are not particularly well tailored to the way that Boko Haram is financing itself," a U.S. defence official said.

Courtesy:
Reuters

Nigerian Military Arrests a Key Actor in Chibok Girls Abduction; Bust Terrorists’ Intelligence Network

A terrorists’ intelligence cell headed by a businessman who participated actively in the abduction of School Girls in Chibok has been busted by troops. The man, Babuji Ya’ari who is also a member of the Youth Vigilante Group popularly known as Civilian JTF which he uses as cover while remaining an active terrorist, also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza. His main role in the group is to spy and gather information for the terrorists group.

Babuji has been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.

The arrest of the businessman who is known to deal in tricycles has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women.  One of them, Hafsat Bako had earlier escaped to Gombe State to avoid suspicion but was tracked and arrested.  Prior to her arrest, Hafsat coordinated the payment of other operatives on the payroll of the group. In her confession, she disclosed that a minimum of N10,000 is paid to each operative depending on the enormity of his task.

Another female suspect named Haj Kaka who doubles as an armourer and a spy for the terrorists group has also been arrested.  Until their arrest, all the suspects actively operated a terrorists’ intelligence cell in collaboration with others still at large.

Courtesy:
Nigerian Television Authority

Rampaging Boko Haram Razes Police Station, Kills Council Boss's Son in Fresh Attack in Bornu State

Suspected members of the Boko Haram Sect  Monday invaded Shani Local Government Area of Borno state setting ablaze the Divisional Police Station and many other building in the town.

They were said to have razed down shops and vehicles using Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol bombs.
The caretaker  chairman of Shani council, Alhaji Modu Walama who was said to have escaped series of attacks by assassins and terrorists in recent past, narrowly  escaped being killed by the terrorists who were poaching for him.

They were said to have attacked the council boss family house in Walama and killed one of his sons  when they discovered that the Chairman was not in the house.

It was gathered from sources that the heavily armed terrorists invaded the town on motorcycles  and bombed the Divisional Police Headquarters at about 2:45pm on Monday, after they realized that almost all the policemen on duty had fled the area.
They were said to have snatched one of the patrol vehicles of the police and set it ablaze after they discovered that the engine is not in perfect order.

They went from there into the town and shot sporadically aimlessly in the town before fleeing towards Gwaskara village.
Shani is the southern part of the troubled state and about 245 kilometres drive from Maiduguri and shares boundary with some parts of Adamawa state.

Mallam  Aliyu Usman , a resident of Shani who was among those who fled out of town during the attack told journalists that they got news of the terrorists lurking around the town at about 8am when they were sighted by some women on their farmlands around Walama, an outskirt of the town.

They had scared off the women from their farms, telling them that they have deadly mission to execute in some places in Shani.
All effort to get the Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jubrin for confirmation was not successful as his phone line was inaccessible as at the time of filing the report.

Courtesy:
ThisDay Newspaper

Dick Cheney Predicts Attack This Decade ‘Far Deadlier’ Than 9/11

Former vice president Dick Cheney predicted Tuesday that the U.S. will face a catastrophic attack before the end of the decade that will be worse than the Sept. 11, 2001 bombings.

"I think there will be another attack," Cheney said on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. "And next time, I think it’s likely to be far deadlier than the last one. You can just imagine what would happen if somebody could smuggle a nuclear device, put it in a shipping container, and drive it down the Beltway outside of Washington, D.C."

Cheney, a hawkish Republican, has been an outspoken critic of President Obama's national security and foreign policy. He recently started a new group with his daughter Liz Cheney that aims to educate the public about their positions.

The Washington Post

ISIS Jihadists Declare ‘Islamic Caliphate’, Names Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "The Caliph"

Jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq announced Sunday the establishment of a “caliphate,” referring to the system of rule that ended nearly 100 years ago with the fall of the Ottomans, Agence France-Presse reported.
In an audio recording distributed online, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “the caliph” and “leader for Muslims everywhere.”
"The Shura [council] of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue [of the caliphate] ... The Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims," said ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani.
"The jihadist cleric Baghdadi was designated the caliph of the Muslims," said Adnani. Baghdadi "has accepted this allegiance and has thus become the leader for Muslims everywhere."
"The words 'Iraq' and 'the Levant' have been removed from the name of the Islamic State in official papers and documents," Adnani said, describing the caliphate as "the dream in all the
Muslims’ hearts" and "the hope of all jihadists."

Ever since the Prophet Muhammad’s death, a caliph was designated "the prince" or emir "of the believers.”
After the first four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad, the caliphate lived its golden age in the Omayyad empire from the year 661 to 750,
and then under the Abbasids, from 750 to 1517. It was abolished when the Ottoman empire collapsed in 1924.

(With AFP)

Al Arabiya News

Boko Haram Lay Siege on Kautikari Villiage, Near Chibok Where School Girls Were Abducted

The terrorist Islamist group Boko Haram has launched a massive attack on Kautikari village in the Chibok area of Borno State. A security source as well as two residents of the area told SaharaReporters that the siege continues as at press time.

The militants arrived in the village early today (Nigerian time) while many residents of the village were in church services and then opened fire indiscriminately on the worshipers, according to our sources.

The number of casualties could not be determined as the attacks were still going on moments ago when our correspondent was alerted.

One of our sources said he feared that scores of innocent people may have died, adding that the villagers were helpless and unarmed at the time the attacks started.

Kautikari is the second largest town in Chibok local government area. Chibok was the location where members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, which western education, abducted some 300 schoolgirls on April 14, 2014. More than 200 of those abducted girls remain missing.

Courtesy:
Sahara Reporters

United States Mission Issue Security Alert to American Citizens in Nigeria

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria issues the following security message for the attention of all U.S. citizens in Nigeria.

Following the June 25 bombing in the Wuse II neighborhood of Abuja, the Government of Nigeria has increased security measures in Abuja. This weekend also marks the commencement of the month of Ramadan. Given the history of bombing attacks on weekends (some associated with holidays), as well as the recent bombing at Emab Plaza in Wuse II, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria urges all U.S. citizens living and traveling in Nigeria to take extra precautions for your personal security and safety. The U.S. Mission urges against non-essential travel to or within Abuja during the upcoming weekend.

The U.S. Mission advises all U.S. citizens to be particularly vigilant around churches and other places of worship, locations where large crowds may gather, government facilities, and areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers during the upcoming weekend. Security measures in Nigeria remain heightened due to threats posed by extremist groups, and U.S. citizens should expect additional police and military checkpoints, additional security, and possible road blocks throughout the country.

We recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Nigeria enroll in the Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency. If you do not have internet access, enroll directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

Courtesy:
US Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria

Boko Haram Rampage: Frustrated Nigerians Resort to Establishing Own Armies

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—Many people in northern Nigeria, frustrated by a five-year insurgency and what they call a
lack of military protection, are ordering rudimentary bulletproof clothing, buying homemade muskets and organizing ragtag militias.
The move toward self protection—born of years of suicide attacks, shooting rampages and mass abductions of girls and boys—underscores what limited
headway the military has made against Boko Haram, the brutal Islamist insurgency whose war against the government has left more than 14,000 people dead in the past three years, according to New York's Council on Foreign Relations.
Deep into the countryside, the black Boko Haram flag flies over a growing sweep of villages, many of them
abandoned.

In April, the group claimed responsibility for kidnapping
more than 200 schoolgirls the night before their final exams, and on Tuesday, local vigilantes said Islamist
militants abducted some 90 more people from northeastern villages. The girls remain missing, despite the presence of U.S. drones, a British spy plane, and Chinese satellites.
Their failure thus far to help rescue the girls has reinforced a belief among ordinary people that they alone can defeat Boko Haram.
So residents here are assembling their own armies. Three closely linked vigilante groups have taken root
here over the past year. They count more than 11,000 members between them. At first, they were equipped with sticks, machetes and table legs. Now they are scaling up, procuring locally made barrel-loaded shotguns cobbled together from car parts and scrap wood. For the first time in recent memory, vendors say there is a shortage of them.

In Maiduguri, Maina Bulama, a 74-year-old bean farmer, stitches thick leather amulets into tank tops customers wear beneath their shirts in the northeastern town. He learned the trade from his father and grandfather, who like him sewed Islamic prayers into the product to curry divine favor. In recent months, customers have arrived in swelling numbers.
"I can't even tell you the number of people I've given these to," said Mr. Bulama.

Officials fret that throwing more arms at the problem will only make it bigger, deepening instability in a country that recently surpassed South Africa as the continent's largest economy.
"This is what we are trying to avoid as much as possible," says Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno, Nigeria's most violent state. In time, he fears, armed militias and vigilante groups could "end up becoming the
Frankenstein monster that will consume us." Nigeria's military spokesman didn't respond to repeated requests to comment. In a statement last year, the military—which has said it is stretched thin policing so many conflicts, criminal movements and rebellions around the country—expressed concern that vigilante groups could be "used to settle scores or witch-hunt perceived enemies."

Kulwa Mesage, a vigilante who bought his musket for roughly $24, says he is saving up for a $175 foreign-made shotgun. "We prefer the pump action," he says.
Nigeria sits along what weapon trackers consider one of the world's busiest highways for arms trafficking, the Sahel. The hardware trafficked here includes homemade pistols, stolen military assault rifles and truck-mounted machine guns likely looted from Libya's inventory after the fall of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

That abundance of weaponry explains how Boko Haram-once a forest-dwelling group armed with curved swords- assembled one of Africa's biggest arsenals in just a few years.
Today, Boko Haram boasts rocket-propelled grenades, night-vision goggles, armored personnel carriers, plus satellite phones—all brandished in their propaganda videos. Nigerian troops say they communicate by cellphones over patchy networks and some say they lack ammunition.

The army has made moves to curb the gun proliferation, especially in Maiduguri. In recent years, troops here have seized unlicensed firearms and detained craftsmen who make them.
But the feeling of insecurity stretches far beyond Nigeria's north. In the grasslands across the middle of the country, a little-noticed ring of cattle thieves has killed more than 500 herdsmen and taken 60,000 cows
in the past 18 months, the country's cattle-breeding association says. Markets in those areas now do brisk business swapping cows for AK-47s, it says.
In the south, gunmen frequently kidnap prominent Nigerians for ransom, prompting village chief Anthony Ijele, among others, to buy his own shotgun. "Guns have been used to stabilize American society and it is that stability that we want in Nigeria," he says.

Ibrahim Mohammad used to manufacture single-barrel muskets from steering columns and chunks of wood. Then soldiers took him to jail for 30 days, the same crowded, dark prison where they hold Boko Haram suspects. Since his release, he says he has limited his work to repairing weapons: "One has to be very careful." Out in the countryside, Boko Haram has delivered an even-more-brutal sort of gun control: It has decapitated gunsmiths in the rifle-making village of Damboa. The treasurer of a gunsmith's guild, Mustapha Kabuke, understood that as Boko Haram's attempt to send a stop-work message.
But Mr. Kabuke is 90 and has been making guns for eight decades. He simply moved his guild to a nearby
village. On a recent day, his five apprentices were busy assembling their latest pair of muskets. Business has been nonstop since vigilantes starting sprouting up. The old man keeps prices low—$50 a musket—"so that every person will have a gun to defend himself."

The Wall Street Journal

President Obama sends CIA to UK to probe terrorist 'breeding ground' and growing 'lone wolf' terrorism

President Obama has sent  a special unit of CIA officers to the UK to investigate British Muslim extremists amid growing fears in Washington that we are becoming a ‘breeding ground’ for terrorism.

In a pointed snub to MI5, the agents arrived on a ‘lone wolf’ mission to interrogate senior security experts about the radicalisation of UK Muslims.

The mission has been revealed as UK security services have been forced to admit they are struggling to keep track of the estimated 500 Britons who have travelled to the Middle East to fight alongside the Islamic  Isis forces in Syria and Iraq.

It is unusual for the CIA to send a team to the UK: the agency usually relies on information passed to it by  MI5 or MI6 or by its agents stationed at the American Embassy in London.

Sources have told The Mail on Sunday that the agents were keen to establish the ‘stability’ of the relationship between the Sunni and Shia branches of Muslims in the UK. The fighters going out to join Isis have been British-based Sunnis, causing deepening tensions within the community.

Professor Anthony Glees, of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at Buckingham University, said the mission, which took place earlier this year, showed the level of concern in Washington over the issue, which he claimed was rooted in the UK’s ‘lax’ immigration policies.

‘The US is worried about the British situation. They fear there might be a knock-on effect for them,’ Prof Glees said.

‘The throat-cutting between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq and Syria has not yet spread to the UK, but it is a real threat. It is conceivable you could see Shia “hit squads” in Britain targeting Sunnis preparing to go out to the conflict zones to fight.’

He said: ‘The Americans regard the UK as a disaster because of our lax stance on immigration which has allowed this militancy to take hold.

‘Frankly, they would not be doing their jobs properly if it did not do this – forming an objective view of the situation outside of the reports they get from MI5 and their officers at the US Embassy in London.’

Last night a source at the CIA insisted British intelligence had been informed of ‘all outside contacts’ the agents made in  the UK.

However, the sources also admitted that the move revealed a growing lack of trust in Washington over MI5 and MI6’s ability to provide a reliable assessment of the security threat presented by young Muslims under the sway of imams who are radicalised and then recruited to fight in religious wars around the globe.

The Obama administration has become increasingly anxious that young American Muslims could follow the same pattern. There are strong links between British and American radicals and the sources say the CIA feels British efforts to identify and unmask them have been inadequate.

A CIA and a Home Office spokesman declined to comment.

Courtesy:
Daily Mail

American National Security, Fight Against Boko Haram Hampered By U.S Senate Delay in Confirming Ambassadorial Nominees - Susan Rice

WASHINGTON: The White House has blamed Republicans for delays in the confirmation of a long list of President Barack Obama's ambassador picks and said this logjam is putting US national security at risk.

"These crucial posts are vacant and American interests are therefore underrepresented. The longer we wait to fill these roles the harder it becomes to maintain our effective American diplomacy," US National Security Advisor Susan Rice said in a blog posting.

"Right now there are 48 nominees for ambassador that are pending, and 26 who are waiting on the floor and eligible for confirmation by the full Senate. The majority of those who are waiting are career Foreign Service officers," White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, said.

"These nominees have been waiting an average of 262 days, and these delays are simply unacceptable. It's time Republicans in the Senate ended their obstruction and allowed these qualified individuals to do their important work protecting American interests around the world," he said.

In fact, he said, there are currently 70 nominees to positions impacting national security, including officials at the Department of Defence, the State Department and other foreign-focused agencies pending in the Senate, he said.

"Unfortunately, because of partisan delays by Senate Republicans, these qualified nominees to critical national security posts have been forced to put their lives on hold and wait indefinitely to be confirmed," Earnest said.

He asked the Republicans in the Senate to stop playing political games and let these individuals get to work on behalf of the American people.

In her blog, Rice listed out some of the key Ambassadorial postings that need confirmation.

"Kuwait borders Iraq and is a vital strategic partner that requires the highest level engagement given the current situation. Yet our post there remains without an ambassador. Now more than ever, it is crucial that our ambassador to the State of Kuwait is confirmed," she said.

"In Africa, a quarter of our ambassadors are awaiting Senate confirmation. And in combating regional instability and serious challenges such as Boko Haram, key partners including Niger, Cameroon, and Mauritania - as well as our delegation to the African Union - need ambassadors in place now," she wrote.

"I am focused every day on keeping our country secure and our citizens at home and abroad safe," said Rice.

"These goals are hindered and our stature abroad is weakened when we are not fielding a full team," she said.

Courtesy:
The Economic Times

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, Benghazi Killings Suspect Appears in U.S Federal Court

Washington (CNN) - Ahmed Abu Khatallah -- the man the U.S. accuses of being the ringleader in the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya -- has been brought to federal court in Washington, a U.S. official confirmed Saturday.

He had been interrogated aboard the USS New York after being captured earlier this month.

Abu Khatallah was awaiting an appearance before a federal judge in Washington after being flown from the ship, an amphibious transport dock, to the nation's capital.

Authorities say Abu Khatallah is among the senior leaders of Ansar al Sharia, whose members were among several militias that participated in the attacks on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi on September 11-12, 2012. The attacks killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.

The attacks spawned a political controversy in the United States because some Republican lawmakers claim the Obama administration tried to mislead the public about them and should have done more to prevent them. The GOP critics say they plan to make Benghazi an issue for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under whose watch the attacks occurred, should she decide to run for president.

The criminal investigation led by the FBI has been extraordinarily challenging, authorities say, in part because lack of Libyan government control in the city prevented investigators from visiting the crime scene for weeks.

U.S. officials, however, say they collected surveillance video, phone eavesdropping and witness statements to bring charges against Abu Khatallah and others involved. They are charged in a criminal complaint in federal court in Washington.

Abu Khatallah became the face of the militant attack, and a top target for the U.S., after he cultivated a celebrity profile in the wake of the attacks, meeting with journalists and granting interviews. He denied to CNN's Arwa Damon that he participated in the attacks.

U.S. military commandos captured Abu Khatallah in a nighttime raid June 15-16. U.S. intelligence assets concocted a ruse to lure him to a villa where the Americans surprised him. The commandos, accompanied by several FBI agents, came ashore by boat and quickly took him away. He remained on the USS New York, undergoing questioning by a team from the FBI-led High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, until he was taken to court on Saturday.

The extended questioning, without Abu Khatallah's being advised of his Miranda rights to remain silent, is being done under an Obama administration policy intended to allow interviews for intelligence purposes. Attorney General Eric Holder authorized lengthier pre-Miranda questioning in a memo issued in December 2010.

CNN

Bomb Blast At Bauchi Soccer Viewing Center Kills 10, Injures 14

At least 10 people have been killed while 14 others sustained injuries from a bomb blast at People's Hotel brothel in Bayangarin area of Bauchi township on Friday night.

An eyewitness told SaharaReporters that five men in military uniform perpetrated the heinous act.

The witness said he was at a viewing centre close to the hotel when the men arrived, detonating explosives and then shooting at random to  kill those trying to escape.

“Those of us who saw them thought they were soldiers who wanted to come and enjoy replays of the World Cup goals that we were all watching," he said.

“All we noticed was that when they entered, four of them took positions each at the four corners of the wall. After the explosion, these people began to shoot at those who did not die immediately and were trying to escape."

Spokesman of the Bauchi State Police Command, Mr. Haruna Mohammed, also confirmed   news of the attack.

He said the entire building had been cordoned off, and the scene secured while  investigations has commenced to ascertain the cause, even though no one has been arrested yet.

The corpses of the bombing victims have been deposited at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, while 14 persons who sustained injuries are also receiving treatment there.

Courtesy:
Sahara Reporters

Nigerian Army Re-assures on Combating Terrorism

Ilorin – The Nigerian Army on Friday re-assured its commitment toward combating terrorism in the country.
The Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC)’s Commander, Maj.-Gen. Sunday Adebayo, gave the assurance at the graduation of 15 Executive Management Officers in Illorin.

Adebayo congratulated the participants and urged them to contribute meaningfully to the fight against terrorism in Nigeria.
He said the officers had been engaged in a rigorous academic exercise in the past three months.

Also speaking, the corps’ Deputy Commandant, Col. Bamidele Terefa, said that the course was aimed at broadening their knowledge in management, peace and strategic thinking.
Terefa said the skills acquired by the officers would help them in carrying out their assignment both at the national and international level.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the participants were drawn from Oyo, Enugu, FCT, Benue and Plateau states. (NAN)

Courtesy:
Vanguard Newspaper