Nigeria Islamists joining with global jihadists: army

Reuters

9 November 2011

Nigeria Islamists joining with global jihadists: army

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A violent Islamist sect responsible for scores of killings in northeast Nigeria is increasingly linking up with global jihadist movements like al Qaeda, a military commander in the area told Reuters on Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed, a senior military official in the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), was speaking at a government house at the end of dusty track in Maiduguri, the heartland of the Boko Haram insurgency.

"Boko Haram is al Qaeda," he said.