Nigeria’s government and Islamist group Boko Haram have been in indirect talks to end deadly violence blamed on the extremists, two sources familiar with the discussions said Friday. “There have been preliminary talks between a Boko Haram-appointed intermediary,” a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that Boko Haram has set out terms for a temporary ceasefire. A diplomatic source said there have been contacts between Nigeria’s government and Boko Haram through intermediaries. The security official said Boko Haram has proposed a three-month truce if all of its detained members are released and if the government halts any further arrests. He said the government was looking at the proposal. Government officials either declined comment on the information or could not be reached.
Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of shootings and bomb blasts, mostly in northern Nigeria, which have killed more than 1,000 people since 2009. It claimed responsibility for an August suicide attack at the UN headquarters in the capital Abuja which killed 25 people and for coordinated bombings and shootings in Nigeria’s second city of Kano on January 20 which left 185 people dead — its deadliest assault yet. The group had initially claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, but its aims and structure have since become less clear, while its attacks have grown increasingly deadly and sophisticated.
