Arsonists attack Anambra council secretariat, burn vehicles
Unidentified gunmen on Saturday morning attacked Ogbaru Local Government Secretariat in Anambra State, burning down about six vehicles.
The incident was suspected to have been carried out by the secessionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Videos circulating on social media showed several vehicles within the premises of the secretariat smouldering in fire.
Police authorities in Anambra State have confirmed the attack, describing it as a cowardly act.
In a press statement released by the state police command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, Anambra State Commissioner of Police Nnaghe Obono Itam said only four vehicles belonging to vigilante operatives were destroyed.
He said: “The attack, which resulted in the destruction of four patrol vehicles belonging to the vigilantes, has been described as an act of cowardice. Notably, there were no casualties.
“Preliminary information indicates that the assailants, arriving in large numbers on motorcycles and a vehicle, began shooting indiscriminately. However, they faced strong resistance from the vigilante operatives until the police response team arrived.
“Due to the superior firepower of the security operatives, the gunmen fled the scene. Unfortunately, four operational vehicles of the security operatives were engulfed in flames and severely damaged.
Source: Daily Post
Roadside bomb kills six Somali soldiers- Police
A roadside bomb planted by the jihadist group Al-Shabaab killed at least six soldiers including a senior military commander in southern Somalia.
Police and local officials disclosed this on Saturday.
They said the blast occurred during a routine military operation near Gofgadud town, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the southwestern city of Baidoa.
“Six members of the army including Colonel Mohamed Dheere died on the spot,” Hassan Mohamed, a military officer in Baidoa told AFP by telephone.
Several others were wounded, he added, without specifying the number.
Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliated group, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Bombings and other attacks are common in the capital Mogadishu and Baidoa, although few have been recorded in recent months.
Al-Shabaab has been waging a deadly insurgency against the fragile central government in Mogadishu for more than 16 years.
Although driven out of the capital by an African Union force in 2011, they still have a strong presence in rural Somalia.
They have carried out repeated attacks against political, security and civilian targets, mostly in Somalia but also in neighbouring countries including Kenya.
Source: The Punch
