Warplanes strike Boko Haram in Borno State

Nigerian warplanes are carrying out
air strikes against Boko Haram militant
bases in northeast Borno state, a senior
official said on Friday, in a government
counter-attack against the group's apparent
drive to create an Islamist enclave.
The official, who asked not to be named,
told Reuters Nigeria's military was battling
Boko Haram fighters at Bama, 70 km (45
miles) southeast of the Borno state capital
Maiduguri.
Air strikes have been carried out "on all the
Boko Haram bases", the official said,
adding this reflected President Goodluck
Jonathan's order for a "fully-fledged war"
against the group which has waged a
bloody insurgency since 2009.
Military spokesmen have denied reports
Bama was overrun by heavily armed
militants earlier this week after they
attacked it with captured military vehicles
and pick-up trucks mounted with machine
guns, all part of a growing Boko Haram
arsenal.
"Bama today is the centre of the military
battle with the terrorists ... Boko Haram is
being repelled by the Nigerian troops as we
are talking now," the government official
said, without giving details of the
operations or casualties.