Posted: 11/04/2015 at 12:11pm
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Nigeria's Boko Haram reveals rocket-making factory
By
Dan Wooding, Founder of the ASSIST News Service, who was born in
Nigeria
BORNO
STATE, NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA (ANS – November 3, 2015) -- The Islamist
militant group Boko Haram has released photos apparently showing a rocket-making
factory in north-eastern Nigeria.
According
to the BBC, the group, which is affiliated with Islamic State, also known as
ISIS, has used rocket-propelled grenades in the past and many Nigerians have
been asking where the weapons have been coming from.
“The
photos seem to indicate that members of the group have the technical know-how to
manufacture weapons,” said the BBC story. “The pictures are believed to have
been taken in a college in Borno state.”
They
were sent as a Whatsapp messages to the BBC Hausa service using a telephone
number from Cameroon, and have also been published on sites linked to so-called
Islamic State, which Boko Haram has joined.
Analysts
say it looks as though the machinery is from Bama, a town in north-eastern
Nigeria recently recaptured from Boko Haram.
An
inscription on one of the machines shows the abbreviation of Government
Technical College Bama (GTCB).
The
equipment appears to have been donated to the college by the Educational Trust
Fund (ETF) in 2005.
“It
is not clear when the pictures were taken, or whether the equipment has been
moved from Bama,” stated the BBC.
“The
army has recaptured most of the towns previously under Boko Haram control but
the group still carries out frequent attacks, especially in Borno State, where
Bama is located.”
Is
the tide turning against Boko Haram?
The
BBC went on to say that if the recent footage released by the military is
anything to go by, Nigerians may have reason for optimism about the government's
ongoing battle against the vicious group.
The
Nigerian military says the footage shows Boko Haram fighters on trucks and
motorcycles fleeing aerial bombardment by the Air Force, in a recent operation
in the Sambisa forest - thought to be the militants' last stronghold in
Nigeria.
Recently,
the military said that hundreds of women and children have been rescued as part
of an ongoing offensive against the group.
“The
latest developments mean that the Nigerian military has not only reclaimed many
towns in the north-east previously under Boko Haram control, but are now pushing
further to rout them from their final hideouts,” added the BBC.
By
starting to provide more documentary evidence to back up its claims of success,
the Nigerian military has shown it is willing to get involved in the propaganda
war as well.
Before
that, the images from Boko Haram, including militants carrying out atrocities
and their leader Abubakar Shekau taunting the government, instilled fear and
hopelessness in the minds of many.
The
last broadcast from Shekau was his pledge of allegiance to Islamic State in an
audio clip in March.
But
as we have seen from his group in the past, silence does not always imply that
they have been significantly weakened.
Attacks
credited to Boko Haram continue in both Nigeria and neighboring countries.
Army
commanders say they don't often find many bodies of the insurgents after battle,
suggesting that the jihadists carry away their dead with them as they
retreat.
It's
not clear if any senior Boko Haram figures have been captured during the recent
operations, says Ryan Cummings, Chief Africa Analyst for the risk management
firm Red24.
“With
the leadership of the group still intact, Boko Haram may continue to possess the
acumen to replenish, regroup, and rearm both within and outside of Nigeria's
borders.”
Then
there is also the argument that until factors like poverty, unemployment and
lack of education can be addressed, local populations will remain vulnerable to
extremist ideology.
Apart
from the Sambisa forest, a vast area based around a nature reserve of the same
name, the group is also known to operate in the Mandara Mountains, which lie on
the poorly-manned Cameroon-Nigeria border.
Fighting
the group here would require greater cooperation between both countries -
something that has been lacking - to combat their common enemy.
Nigeria's
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader, said one of his
first moves after assuming office was to call a meeting of the regional leaders
on a more proactive collaboration to end the conflict, which he has since done,
and many do believe that now the tide is turning at last against Boko Haram,
which is good news for many in the country of my birth.
Boko
Haram at a glance supplied by the BBC:
*
Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko
Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language
*
Launched military operations from Maiduguri in 2009
*
Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, hundreds abducted, including
more than 200 schoolgirls
*
Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's “West African
province”Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
*
Regional force has retaken most territory this year
Photo
captions: Abubakar Shekau taunting the government in one of his many videos. 2)
Nigerian soldiers have retaken many towns from Boko Haram in a recent offensive.
3_ The Nigerian army says it has rescued more than 700 people from Boko Haram
camps. 4) Dan Wooding with his mother in Vom, Nigeria, shortly after his birth
in 1940. Source: Assist News
Service
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