Nigerian troops kill 15 terrorists, recover arms (Read full details)

Nigerian troops

Nigerian troops have killed 15 members of the Boko Haram terrorists, who were part of insurgents responsible for the mistaken deployment of rockets by the Nigerian Air Force in Rann, on Tuesday.

They also captured one terrorist, suspected to be a foreigner.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, confirmed the killing and capture of the terrorists in Rann on Friday, when he paid an operational visit to troops of 3 Batallion.

Buratai said the insurgents came again to the town in two gun trucks on Thursday at about 6p.m. to attack, but were repelled by the soldiers, who killed 15, while others escaped with one gun truck.

He added that the troops recovered the other truck with weapons, including one General Purpose Machine Gun, three AK47 and ammunitions.

Buratai recalled that the Tuesday’s incident, the Air Force component of the Operation Lafiya Dole based on intelligence that the terrorists had infiltrated Rann with intent to attack, deployed the rockets.

He, however, regretted that the weapons mistakenly hit IDPs camps in the town, killing over 50 civilians and wounding many others.

“Two of our soldiers were also affected in the unfortunate incident,” Buratai said.

He described the incident as unfortunate and big mistake.

“We have all learnt lessons from it.

“We will take note of this; the issue of coordination and passage of the right information will help to prevent such incident again.

“It is a mistake which can happen and it has happened in other places. We pray it never happen again,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while addressing the troops, Buratai urged them not to allow the unfortunate incident to demoralise them.

He charged them to remain committed, dedicated and patriotic, assuring them that their efforts would be rewarded.

The chief of army staff also met with elders of the community and condoled with them over the incident.

According to the Commanding Officer of 3 Battalion, Lt.-Col. I. P. Omoke, Rann was one of the last towns retaken from the insurgents on March 22, 2016.

Omoke said since then, the terrorists had made five failed attempts to attack the town but never succeeded.

Rann, the headquarters of Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno, is 175km from Maiduguri and 8km to the Republic of Cameroon.

Nigerian troops kill 15 terrorists, recover arms

Wenger pinpoints India as next big transfer powerhouse (Read full details)

Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger. / AFP PHOTO / Ian Kington

China’s Super League clubs may have been grabbing the headlines in the huge transfer fees they have been paying for players but Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes India could become a serious player.

The 67-year-old Frenchman said he hoped India would emerge as a contender in the transfer market but added they should not expect immediate success.

“I expect India to come to the game — and hope it will happen,” said Wenger.

The Indian Super League — which was founded in 2013 — has attracted ageing former stars such as Norwegian defender John-Arne Riise who played last year at Chennayin FC — which is managed by Italy’s World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi — and Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan who played at Mumbai FC in 2016.

However, Wenger said based on his experience of managing in Japan progress would not be quick.

“Professional football was created in England 150 years ago and we still struggle,” said Wenger, who coached Nagoya Grampus Eight from 1995 to 1996 when Arsenal came calling.

“It’s a slow process of creating a football culture.

“When I went to Japan it was 1995 and their professional league had been created in 1993.

“You expect reflexes that are not there because (players) don’t have the culture of professional football.

Wenger pinpoints India as next big transfer powerhouse

Defeated Real Madrid surprise Zidane (Read full details)

Real Madrid's French coach Zinedine Zidane / AFP PHOTO / Odd ANDERSEN

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane admitted he was surprised by his side’s slow start as they slumped to a second defeat in four days, 2-1 at home to Celta Vigo in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday.

Zidane’s men hadn’t lost in a Spanish record 40 games stretching back to April last year before conceding twice in the final five minutes to lose 2-1 at Sevilla on Sunday.

And Zidane believes the European champions suffered a hangover from that disappointment in a first 45 minutes devoid of goalmouth action at a frigid Santiago Bernabeu with temperatures plummeting below zero degrees

“It was a strange game, especially the start,” said Zidane.

“We have to analyse it, something is wrong for sure. We didn’t do what we had prepared to do, especially the intensity. The intensity wasn’t good at the start of the game.”

However, the real damage to the hosts was done in a six-minute spell midway through the second-half as Celta grabbed two vital away goals and their first win at the Bernabeu in a decade.

Iago Aspas’s 15th goal of the season put the visitors in front before Marcelo equalised with a sensational volley five minutes later.

However, Celta went immediately back in front when left-back Jonny exploited a huge gap in the centre of the Madrid defence to slot home.

The sides meet again for the second leg on January 25.

“There is no excuse. We are Real Madrid,” added Zidane.

“We have to keep working and think about the next game. We will overcome this.

“We have done well until now and in the last two games we can’t be happy with above all the results. The performance in Sevilla was good, today it was a bit worse, but we shouldn’t worry.”

However, Brazilian midfielder Casemiro admitted Real’s confidence has been rocked by back-to-back defeats.

“This defeat is concerning because Madrid can never lose,” he said.

“Losing in Seville has damaged us.”

Celta boss Eduardo Berizzo claimed he wasn’t surprised by his side’s success having knocked Atletico Madrid out at this stage of the competition last season.

However, he insisted Madrid remain the favourites to progress and believes Celta will need to play even better in the return leg in seven days time to reach the last four.

“It is a bit arrogant to say we are favourites against Real Madrid, but we will enjoy a win like this,” said Berizzo.

“None of my team’s victories surprise me. It is a huge win, coming to a place like this and facing the best team in the world, but we believed we could do it.

“We are happy to win, but it obliges us to play even better in Vigo because we are facing a brilliant opponent and it is the toughest footballing test.”

Defeated Real Madrid surprise Zidane