And they are fighting to impose Islamic law. But remember, only “extremist” “Islamophobes” would see in this any connection to Islam. “Islamic militants attack Nigerian air force base,” by Haruna Umar for the Associated Press, December 2 (thanks to Kenneth):
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria “” Hundreds of Islamic militants in trucks and a stolen armored personnel carrier attacked an air force base and international airport on the outskirts of a Nigerian city before dawn Monday, officials and witnesses said, possibly leaving scores of people dead in one of the insurgent group’s most daring attacks.
Two helicopters and three decommissioned military aircraft were “incapacitated” in the attack, said a statement from Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, the Ministry of Defense spokesman. He said some army bases also were hit.
Twenty-four insurgents were killed and many were wounded along with two air force personnel, Olukolade said in a statement.
The state government quickly ordered everyone to stay home and extended a night-time curfew to 24 hours in Maiduguri, the city near the air base which is also the birthplace of the extremist Boko Haram movement.
The militants also attacked Maiduguri International Airport, the official said. Olukolade said flight operations were temporarily disrupted but have resumed. International flights to Maiduguri stopped months ago but domestic flights had continued.
Explosions and automatic gunfire could be heard across the northeastern city from around 2:30 a.m. when the insurgents launched the attack with screams of “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”
The fighting continued until about 7 a.m.
Government and military officials said scores of people may be dead. Reporters saw military ambulances ferrying bodies to the hospital morgue.
Civilians living around the military base, which is off a main road, said they saw bodies with slit throats and corpses of insurgents burning in vehicles….
“When you meet the unbelievers, strike at their necks…” (Qur’an 47:4)
The attack comes a week after the military bombarded forest hideouts of the Boko Haram terrorist network near the border with Cameroon with air strikes and ground assaults.
One military officer put the number of attackers at around 500. It was unclear how such a large convoy could move undetected at night in an area under curfew, though the insurgents have seized many military vehicles and arms at the scenes of other attacks and witnesses have said they sometimes wear the same military fatigues as the Nigerian army….
The extremists say they want to impose Islamic Shariah law across all Nigeria….