Nigeria captures leader of terrorist group, Ansaru

The Nigerian army says it has arrested the leader of an al-Qaeda linked terrorist group, Ansaru, known for kidnapping and murdering Westerners.

Khalid al-Barnawi was captured in Lokoja, capital of the central state of Kogi on Friday, military spokesman Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar said on Sunday.

“He is among those on top of the list of our wanted terrorists,” he added.

Al-Barnawi has been one of the three Nigerians listed by the US in 2012 as “specially designated global terrorists.” The US had placed a $5 million bounty on his head.

A-Barnawi has “ties to Boko Haram” and “close links to al-Qaeda,” according to the US State Department.

A Nigerian army officer said his arrest was “a huge success and will have a profound effect on counter-terrorism operations in Nigeria and beyond.”

Ansaru is a splinter group of Boko Haram which claimed responsibility for the December 26, 2012 attack on a facility in Abuja, where the army held captured terrorists. They killed two policemen and freed 40 detainees.

SS