As John Kerry arrives, Nigeria says top Boko Haram fighters killed

Abuja, Aug 24: Nigeria's air force has claimed to have killed several fighters of Boko Haram terror group and possibly its top leader while US Secretary of State John Kerry promised a consideration to increase military assistance to the African country to defeat the outfit, Reuters reported.

Jets targeted the Islamist outfit inside Sambisa forest in northeastern Nigeria on Friday (Aug 19), the country's air force said, according to Reuters. A statement by military spokesperson Col Sani Kukasheka Usman also said that the Boko Haram's leader, the so called 'Abubakar Shekau', was fatally injured on his shoulders. However, he did not reveal details about the source of the information, Reuters added.

The US had been closely monitoring the fight against the Boko Haram which has declared allegiance to the dreaded Islamic State and attacked Nigeria's neigbouring countries.

However, neither Nigerian President Muhammadu Bukhari nor Kerry raised the issue of air raids on the militants during their meeting, sources in the State Department said, the Reuters report said. It said lack of adequate information stopped either sides from addressing the issue.

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