Boko Haram stole US weapons in raid from Army base - Nigeria

Chat212 Reporting - Boko Haram fighters stole hundreds of American-supplied automatic weapons and other equipment in a raid on Army base where the US was training local forces, bringing an abrupt end to the secretive program, a report said Tuesday.

At least 31 security personnel killed in attack on army base in northeast town of Buni Yadi, firing first on soldiers manning a checkpoint and razing the local police station -  witnesses say.

US troops have been tasked with covertly forming local counter terrorism units in Nigeria, Libya, Mauritania, Niger and Mali, part of US efforts to widen the war against Al-Qaeda affiliates in Africa, The New York Times reported, citing American officials.

It has been financed in part with millions of dollars in classified Pentagon spending, the Times said, and involves instructing and equipping "handpicked" commandos in the four countries, with the hope the teams will eventually be able to take on fighters like Boko Haram.

But the initiative has endured several setbacks, notably in Libya, Mauritania, Niger and Mali where the training was suddenly cut short, And Now the group of armed militia fighters overpowered a smallArmy base force at a training camp, the newspaper said.

As well as automatic weapons, the fighters seized night-vision goggles and vehicles, it added, saying that American instructors were promptly sent home. US officials are now looking for a more secure site to get the program going again.

"But last summer's debacle and the political upheaval in Libya since then have caused American officials to rethink how they select local personnel," the Times said.

The American trainers had issued the Nigeria's M4 automatic rifles and Glock pistols, and the Nigeria's were responsible for safeguarding them at a warehouse. But all were taken in the pre-dawn raid, believed carried out by a Boko Haram militia that overpowered the Army Base.

The American trainers were not at the training camp at the time because they would usually stay at a nearby villa, leading to suspicions that the theft was an "inside job."