Fresh attack of Boko Haram on Maiduguri

#bokoharam #maiduguri #nigeria #bornostate Militants of the Islamist group of Boko Haram have launched a fresh assault on the strategically important Nigerian city of Maiduguri as reported in bbc.com dated 1 February 2015. There were reports of gunfire on the streets of the northern city following an attack that began in the early hours of Sunday. There were sounds of heavy artillery fire as the militants attacked the city from four directions.
This attack has come a week after Boko Haram's last attempt of capturing the capital of Borno state. The attack was repelled by the Nigerian army with heavy loss of life.
This Boko Haram group had begun guerrilla operations in 2009 and their objective was to create an Islamic state. In the process, it has already taken over the control of many towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria in the last year. Their last attempt to take over Maiduguri a week ago was stopped by the military. However, they did succeed to capture the town of Monguno located 125-Km outside the city and also took over a military base.
The conflict has already displaced at least 1.5 million people and unconfirmed reports indicate a loss of lives of the order of 2000 last year.
As to the latest attack, the security forces are tight lipped and have so far not commented – their handling of the six-year insurgency has often met with criticism and the loss of Maiduguri would be another major setback.

Trolleybus shelled in Donetsk – at least 13 persons killed

#ukraine #donetsk #trolleybus #minskagreement Shelling, reportedly by pro-Russian activists, have killed at least 13 persons who were waiting at the bus stop in Donetsk for their trolleybus. The defense ministry of Ukraine has put the blame on the pro-Russian rebels.
The incident happened in the residential area of the city which is controlled by the illegal militias. It was an artillery attack in the rebel stronghold and it happened even as talks on the country's crisis has led to a sort of agreement to pull back heavy weaponry from a demarcation line defined in last year's Minsk agreement.
The deal had been brokered by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier with his counterparts from France, Russia and Ukraine when the talks were held in Berlin.
However, Moscow has denied the charges and has, instead, blamed the attack on Ukrainian troops branding it as a "crime against humanity", aimed at undermining efforts to resolve the bloody conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people.
Subsequent to the deadly strike, the separatists paraded around 20 captured Ukrainian soldiers through the streets of Donetsk - angry residents apparently hurled pieces of glass and abuse at them.