In this image shot with a mobile phone, a young girl stands amid the burned ruins of Baga.
In this image shot with a mobile phone, a young girl stands amid the burned ruins of Baga.

Almost 200 killed in gun battles in Nigeria



KANO, NIGERIA // More than 185 people are believed to have been killed and 2,000 houses burnt in a battle between soldiers and suspected Islamist militants.

Most of the victims of the violence, which started on Friday in the north-east village of Baga, are civilians.

The fighting, which killed one officer, began after a patrol was attacked near a mosque where Boko Haram fighters have hidden weapons, Brig Gen Austin Edokpaye said on a visit to the area yesterday.

Militants "came out with heavy firepower", including rocket-propelled grenades, he told the Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima.

"The soldiers were mindless that night," a Baga resident, Mallam Bana, told Mr Shettima.

"They killed and burnt our houses, chased everyone into the bush including women and children."

The Borno state military spokesman, Lt Col Sagir Musa, said media reports claiming that nearly 200 people could have died in the clashes were "extensively inflated".

"There could have been some casualties, but it is unthinkable to say that 185 people died," Lt Col Musa said. "On my honour as an officer, nothing like that happened."

When gun battles broke out in Baga on Friday, residents were forced to flee the fishing village, which also serves as a small trading centre on the shores of Lake Chad.

It lies in Borno state, the home of Boko Haram, who are blamed for carrying out scores of attacks across northern and central Nigeria since 2009.

There was extensive damage to the village, including signs that a fire had razed several homes and a market, according to an official who toured the area on Sunday with Mr Shettima.

The official said residents reported deaths among the insurgents, soldiers as well as civilians.

A regional spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said his personnel had arrived in Baga but communication was difficult and it was too early to assess the scale of the attack.

Mobile phone network coverage in some parts of Borno was crippled last year after Boko Haram burnt down telecommunications masts.

The emergency agency is trying to distribute "humanitarian assistance to victims", Mr Ibrahim said. An exact death toll and reports 2,000 homes were destroyed "cannot be independently verified", he added.

A spokesman for the Red Cross charity, Nwakpa O Nwakpa, said a significant attack occurred but "we really don't know yet how many people died. Once the security situation is clear, Red Cross staff will move in".

Baga is more than 150 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri, a precarious drive on poor roads in a region hit by waves of violence.

Boko Haram has used Maiduguri as a base for its insurgency but scores of militants have reportedly fled to more remote corners of the state following a crackdown by security forces in the city.

Residents told the governor's delegation that the clashes started when troops surrounded a mosque that was believed to be sheltering insurgents. A shoot-out ensued and there were reports that the Islamists used heavy weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades, but the nature of the fighting could not be confirmed and details were still emerging.

Nigeria's security forces have a history of minimising casualty figures in the conflict with Boko Haram in a bid to downplay the group's capacity.

But resentment of the military is high in some communities and locals have in the past given inflated death tolls while accusing the military of indiscriminately killing civilians during their operations.

Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north but the group's demands have shifted repeatedly. The conflict in Africa's most populous country and top oil producer is estimated to have left about 3,000 people dead since 2009.

This includes people killed by the security forces, who have been accused by international rights groups of abuses, especially in the north-east.

Facing mounting political pressure over his inability to end the violence, the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, set up a panel last week to study how an amnesty could be offered to Boko Haram. It is unclear if the sect would be open to such a proposal.

* Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg News

Keane on …

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Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)

Engine 4.7L V8

Transmission Six-speed automatic

Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm

Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km

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MATCH INFO:

Second Test

Pakistan v Australia, Tuesday-Saturday, 10am​​ daily​​​​​ at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Entrance is free

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Director: Guy Ritchie

Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant 

Three out of five stars

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

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How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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What is a virtual bank?

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.

What’s the draw in Asia?

Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.

Is Hong Kong short of banks?

No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year. 

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Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

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September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

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