Nigeria Army In Fierce Battle Against Insurgents In Malam Fatori Borno State

Officers of the Nigerian Army on Friday engaged the Boko Haram insurgents at Malam Fatori, the border town headquarters of Abadam Local Goverment Area (LGA) in Borno state in the northeast region in a fierce battle.

ABN TV learnt that the terrorists attacked the army formation in Malam-Fatori Friday evening.

A 12-year-old conflict in northeast Nigeria has caused, directly and indirectly, the deaths of some 350,000 people, the vast majority of which are children below the age of five, the United Nations (UN) found in a report in June.

The death toll, given by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in a study on the insurgency and its effect on livelihoods, is 10 times higher than previous estimates of about 35,000 based only on those killed in fighting in Nigeria since violence broke out.

Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009 displacing more than two million from their homes and spawning one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions of people dependent on aid. The conflict shows little sign of ending.

Children younger than five account for some 324,000 deaths, more than nine out of 10 of those killed, with 170 dying every day, the UNDP said.

Of nearly 350,000 deaths from the conflict, it estimated 314,000 to have resulted from indirect causes.