Boko Haram trying to hit Lagos
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s Islamic extremist rebels Boko Haram are trying to extend their violent campaign across the country including Lagos, the country largest city, an intelligence official said Sunday
There has been a sudden influx of Boko Haram agents into Lagos and other parts of Nigeria outside the militants’ main area in northeastern Nigeria, said Tony Opuiyo, spokesman of the Department of State Services. He said Boko Haram is trying to extend their reach after being pushed out of the urban centers of northeastern Nigeria in recent months.
Security agencies had arrested 14 Boko Haram suspects in Lagos, the capital Abuja and other parts of the country outside the northeast in the past two months, said Opuiyo.
Boko Haram’s six-year-old uprising has killed an estimated 20,000 people. At least 1,000 people have been killed by the militants’ violence since President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in March with a pledge to wipe out the extremists.
Italian firm finds huge natural-gas field
ROME – The Italian energy company Eni SpA announced Sunday it has discovered a “supergiant” natural gas field off Egypt, describing it as the “largest-ever” found in the Mediterranean Sea.
The news came a day after Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi met in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the Egyptian leader’s office said.
Eni said the discovery – made in its Zohr prospect “in the deep waters of Egypt” – could hold a potential 30 trillion cubic feet of gas over an area of 38.6 square miles.
IS damages ancient Palmyra temple
BEIRUT – Islamic State militants in Syria severely damaged the Bel Temple, considered one of the greatest sites of the ancient world, in a massive explosion Sunday, activists said.
The temple was part of the remains of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria. IS fighters seized Palmyra in May.
The news of the latest destruction at Palmyra came just days after IS released propaganda images purportedly showing militants blowing up another Palmyra temple, the 2,000-year-old Baalshamin.
The Islamic State group, which has imposed a violent interpretation of Islamic law across its self-declared “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq, says such ancient relics promote idolatry.
Dominica declares disaster after storm
ROSEAU, Dominica – Rescue teams worked Sunday to reopen roads to remote communities in Dominica after Tropical Storm Erika caused flooding and mudslides that killed at least 20 people and left more than 50 missing on the Caribbean island.
“Access by road to these communities is impossible,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said. These towns “are cut off from the rest of the country.”
In a national address late Saturday, Skerrit said he was declaring disaster status for nine local areas.
Erika whipped the island for more than five hours on Wednesday, bringing strong winds and intense rain that provoked flooding and landslides. Hundreds of homes were destroyed.
Yemeni factions gear up for key battle
SANAA, Yemen – Yemen’s warring factions on Sunday braced for a key battle in a central province, where victory could allow pro-government forces to move rapidly north into the heartland of the country’s Shiite rebels.
Security officials from both sides said the focus was now on Marib, an oil-rich province that supplies the rebel-held capital of Sanaa with electricity and fuel, after months of combat and airstrikes that have killed some 2,000 civilians, according to the U.N.
Pro-government forces have recently tightened their grip on the province’s capital, also called Marib, while the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, have consolidated their positions on its outskirts, digging trenches and laying mines in nearby Jawf, security officials from both sides and witnesses said.
Associated Press
