Nigeria thwarts Boko Haram plan to attack U.S., British embassies
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Reporting from ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerian security officials say they have thwarted plans by Islamic State-linked Boko Haram members to attack the embassies of the United States and Britain.
A statement Wednesday by the Department of State Services said that late last month it broke up a ring that had “perfected plans to attack” the embassies along with “other Western interests” in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
The statement said five suspects were arrested. It gave no further details.
One faction of Boko Haram is allied with Islamic State.
Nigeria’s president late last year declared the Boko Haram insurgency “crushed,” but its fighters continue to threaten the vast region around Lake Chad in defiance of a multinational force. It has increasingly used children, especially girls, as suicide bombers.
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