14 Mar 2015

Troops Discover Boko Haram 'bomb factory' In Yobe State.



The Nigerian's military said on Friday that it
had uncovered a Boko Haram bomb-making
factory in the northeastern town of Buni Yadi
after soldiers retook the town from the
insurgents.
The fighters captured the town in Yobe state in
August last year as the group seized swathes of
territory in the crisis-hit northeast.
The military announced that it had wrested back
control last Saturday.
Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said that
search operations in the area led to the discovery
of the bomb-making factory manufacturing
improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

"A large quantity of IEDs, including those
commonly used by suicide bombers were
recovered from the site," he added in an emailed
statement.
"The factory, which was located in a fertiliser
company, has also converted some of the
materials therein for production of all types of
IEDs.
"Troops are still evacuating the materials which
include a large quantity of suicide bomber vests
from the facility to their base."
A Chad
Perspective
Boko Haram has increasingly used suicide attacks
in its six-year campaign to create a hardline
Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

Women and young girls with explosives vests
strapped to their bodies have been sent into
crowded markets and bus stations, causing mass
casualties.
Roadside bombs, a tactic seen widely in Iraq and
Afghanistan by Al-Qaeda-linked militants, have
also been found buried in the ground.
Olukolade said four soldiers were killed by IEDs
during the operation to retake Buni Yadi and the
advance was delayed because the devices were
planted on the road leading into the town.
Nigeria's military, assisted by soldiers from Niger,
Chad and Cameroon, as well as South African
mercenaries, have made major gains against Boko
Haram in recent weeks.

The operation is designed to secure and stabilise
the northeast in time for elections to take place in
two weeks' time at which President Goodluck
Jonathan is seeking re-election.
Olukolade said the discovery of the bomb-making
factory "is expected to degrade the capability of
terrorists in the production of explosives, which
they have been using lavishly in the area".
source - AFP

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