Nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram were on Thursday put on high alert after four military vehicles went missing during a raid on an army post in the restive northeast. At least nine Boko Haram fighters were killed in the hour-long shootout, which forced motorists on the Maiduguri-to-Damaturu road to take cover until it had ended. In September 2013, Boko Haram disguised as soldiers barricaded the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway at Benisheik, some 10 kilometres (6 miles) from Mainok, and killed 167 people. Nigeria maintains that the counter-insurgency begun in early 2015 has left Boko Haram a spent force, after eight years of violence that has killed at least 20,000 people. Later on Thursday, Nigerian state governors approved a plan to provide an extra $1 billion (850 million euros) to fund the fight against Boko Haram.

Source: Punch December 14, 2017 17:15 UTC