Extremist leader: I headed attack on Nigerian city

A Nigerian Islamic militant leader with an American USD 7-million bounty on his head boasts in a new video obtained that he commanded the Oct 23 battle that killed at least 127 people a show of strength in the face of a nearly six-month-long military crackdown.
All but two victims were combatants killed during five hours of fierce fighting in the Yobe state capital, Damaturu. It was the first major attack in months on an urban centre during an Islamic uprising that has terrorised northeast Nigeria.
Security forces swiftly freed major towns under the sway of the religious extremists after a state of emergency imposed in mid-May. But they have been struggling to hunt down Boko Haram militants in hideouts in local forests and caves and across borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger, from which they emerge to attack schools and villages. Hundreds of civilians, mainly Muslims, have been killed by the militants in recent weeks, with some 40 killed in recent days.

Abubakar Shekau's video, dubbed The Battle of Damaturu, shows the bearded extremist leader in military camouflage, cradling an AK-47 automatic rifle and speaking in Arabic, Hausa and his native Kanuri as he sings the praises of Allah. The United States put a reward of USD 7 million dollars on Shekau's head in June, indicating the importance they give to the uprising that poses the biggest threat in decades to Nigeria's security.
"My brethren, this is the story I want to tell my brothers and the whole world: All this weaponry that you are seeing it is Allah who gave this to his worshippers who are fighting for Jihad all this ammunition was obtained in just one place," Shekau says.

The blurry video pans to a masked fighter standing amid hundreds of guns and ammunition belts and scores of boxes - all of which Shekau claims was captured in Damaturu. He said he does not need to tell the world how many soldiers were killed and accuses the military of lying about its casualties.
Nigeria's military says it killed a total of 95 insurgents and lost 22 soldiers and eight police officers that day, when the insurgents set ablaze four police command posts and an army barracks.