Africa, July 30: Security forces in northern Nigeria have freed nearly 200 women and children during a crackdown on a radical Islamic sect responsible for violence that has killed at least 150 people.
Soldiers in armoured personnel carriers surrounded and shelled parts of a compound that is home to Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the Boko Haram sect, in the city of Maiduguri, destroying buildings including a small mosque.
The preacher’s whereabouts were unknown. Joint military and armed police patrols went from house to house searching for his followers, and more than 100 people were arrested.
–Agencies