Nigeria's air force said it had killed a number of senior Boko Haram fighters and possibly their overall leader, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged to consider ways to ramp up military assistance to Nigeria to defeat the militant group. The Obama administration has paid close attention to the fight against the militant group which has declared allegiance to Islamic State and destabilised a whole region by attacking Nigeria's neighbours. PLANESNigeria has been pushing the United States to sell it aircraft to take on Boko Haram - a group that emerged in northeast Borno region seven years ago. There was no immediate reaction from Boko Haram, which communicates with the media only by videos. There have been recent signs of rifts between at least parts of Boko Haram and Islamic State.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 23, 2016 20:48 UTC