Boko Haram commander Saleh Ibrahim killed, Military goin to Mali to Catch Shekau

Nigeria's military has killed a top commander of militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, an army spokesman has said.

Ibn Saleh Ibrahim was killed in an exchange of fire with six of his lieutenants, the spokesman added. An unknown number of civilians are said to have been killed in the crossfire, says a BBC reporter in Nigeria.  rmy spokesman Lt Col Sagir Musa told the BBC that Mr Ibrahim was "very close" to Mr Shekau and had a reputation of being "invincible".

"On thursday, we learned he was in town and we were able to track him in a special operation," he said. "There was an exchange of fire and in the process he was killed with six of his lieutenants." There has been no independent confirmation of Mr Ibrahim's role in Boko Haram.

Lt Col Musa said Mr Ibrahim had been responsible for last month's assassination of retired General Mohammed Shuwa following an order from Mr Shekau. Gen Shuwa was shot dead at his home in Maiduguri - no group has said it carried out the attack

In related news ... The proposed peace talk between the Federal Government and Boko Haram has crumbled, even as the top command of Nigeria’s security apparatus has launched a fresh offensive to capture the sect’s leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau alive. The collapse of the planned dialogue is coming barely three weeks after the sect initiated a fresh move for ceasefire and peace talks.

As a result, a top level security source revealed that the Federal Government has decided to change its approach to resolving the Boko Haram debacle by deploying enormous resources to capture the leader of the sect. According to the source, “government is no longer keen on sending thousands of our troops to Mali to fight in a foreign land notwithstanding our commitment to the ECOWAS plan to put some troops together.