Troops Kill 30 Boko Haram Members In Nigeria-Chad Border

Not less than 30 Boko Haram members have been reported killed in a clash with troops in a village near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border.

The incident, which was said to have occurred on Monday also resulted in the death of five soldiers from the republic of Niger. The fighting reportedly started after the army fell into an ambush, leaving six soldiers injured, with two of the militants captured.

Residents say the insurgents were trying to prevent people from praying during the Islamic festival of Eid-el-Kabir. A military operation by the Multi-National Task Force involving Nigeria, Chad, the Republic of Niger and Cameroon has been fighting the militants in the Lake Chad area where they plan to establish a base.

The Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services had issued an alert, warning that members of the Boko Haram terrorist group were planning attacks on places of worship during the Eid celebration. During the festive period, the Chief of Air Staff in Nigeria, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, visited troops in Nigeria’s northeast and urged them to sustain the tempo of the fight against the insurgents that have terrorized communities in the region in the last six years.

He was optimistic that a sustained tempo would reduce the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists in the region that has seen relative peace in the last few months, due to heightened counter-terrorism operations.

The Lantern of the Photuris Firefly

THE lantern, or light organ, of a particular Photuris firefly is covered with jagged scales that dramatically enhance the brightness of the light that the insect produces. * Jagged scales Consider: Researchers have found that tiny scales on the lantern surface of some fireflies form a corrugated pattern, somewhat like overlapping shingles or tiles. The scales tilt up at one end by just 3 micrometers —less than one twentieth the thickness of a human hair. Yet this tiny tilt lets the lantern shine almost 50 percent more brightly than it would if the scales formed an even surface!

An Overview of Indonesia

Land Straddling the equator between Australia and continental Asia, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago. Most of its more than 17,500 islands feature rugged mountains and dense tropical forests. With more than 100 active volcanoes, it is also the most active volcanic region on earth.

PORTRAITS FROM THE PASTIgnaz Semmelweis

IGNAZ SEMMELWEIS may not be a household name, yet his work has benefited most modern families. Born in Buda (now Budapest), Hungary, he received his medical degree at the University of Vienna in 1844. On taking up his post as assistant to a professor at the First Maternity Clinic of Vienna’s General Hospital in 1846, Semmelweis faced an appalling reality —more than 13 percent of the women giving birth there died from a disease called childbed fever. Various theories as to the cause of this disease had been proposed, yet no one had solved the mystery. All attempts to reduce the mortality rate proved futile. Troubled by the spectacle of numerous mothers suffering a slow, agonizing death, Semmelweis determined to find the cause of the disease and prevent it.

Rielyn Co

Search This Blog