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Nigerian Army Chief Survives Suspected Boko Haram Attack

update

Nigeria's army chief has survived an attack on his convoy by suspected Boko Haram fighters in volatile Borno state.

Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai
Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai

The army says gunmen ambushed Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai's convoy in a village between the towns of Mafa and Dikwa on Saturday.

It says troops responded with overwhelming fire, killing 10 attackers and capturing five. One government soldier was killed and five wounded.

The general continued on to Dikwa, where he addressed soldiers and a group of Nigerian civilians driven out of their homes by the fighting between Boko Haram and the military.

Also Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon began a two-day visit to Nigeria to talk about terrorism and other vital issues with President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr. Ban also will meet with religious and business leaders and human rights activists.

He will lay a wreath to mark the fourth anniversary of a Boko Haram suicide car bombing at the U.N. building in Abuja that killed at least 18 people.

The Islamist extremist group has killed more than 10,000 people since 2009, including 1,000 dead in northeast Nigeria since President Buhari was inaugurated in May.

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