#News: Nigeria 'repels' attack on key town

[BBC]

 Who are Boko Haram?

• Founded in 2002
• Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - but also attacks on police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
• Some three million people affected
• Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

Who are Boko Haram?

 On Thursday, the Borno Elders Forum (BEF), which represents influential people in the state, released a statement urging the military to "fortify" Maiduguri, the city where Boko Haram was founded in 2002, to prevent an assault "from all directions".

Boko Haram has captured a string of towns and villages in Borno, as well as territory in neighbouring Adamawa state, forcing thousands of people to flee to the hills.

The Islamist group's five-year insurgency is seen as the biggest threat to Nigeria's territorial integrity since the 1967-70 civil war, analysts say.  

In recent months it has changed tactics, by holding on to towns in the north-east, where mostly Muslims live, instead of carrying out hit-and-run attacks.


Source: BBC