Islamic extremists continue
to move freely between Nigeria and northern Mali, despite the ongoing
French military operation there against them, the United States
ambassador to Nigeria said Thursday.
As extremist shootings, bombings and kidnappings of foreigners continue unstopped across northern Nigeria, U.S. Ambassador Terence McCulley said halting the violence remained a top priority of the Washington government. However, McCulley declined to answer questions about U.S. plans to operate a drone base in neighboring Niger which would allow the aircraft to monitor Nigeria as well.
Officials "have seen reports for years" about fighters from the radical Islamic extremist network Boko Haram traveling to Mali to receive training there, said McCulley, speaking to journalists on a telephone conference call. Boko Haram, the main force behind the continuing guerrilla attacks against Nigeria's weak central government, is believed by analysts and officials to have ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in Mali, and likely received training and weapons from them.
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