BOKO HARAM uses military hardware stolen from the Nigerian army - US officials

Much of Boko Haram’s military hardware is not bought; it is stolen from the Nigerian army, an official of the US Treasury Department said in a statement to Reuters yesterday.

In February, dozens of its fighters descended on a remote military outpost in the Gwoza hills in north-eastern Borno State, looting 200 mortar bombs, 50 rocket-propelled grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Such raids have left the group well armed. In dozens of attacks in the past year Nigerian soldiers were swept aside by militants driving trucks, motor bikes and sometimes even stolen armored vehicles, firing rocket-propelled grenades...READ MORE