Al Jazeera English - Africa - Senior Islamist among Nigeria dead: "The deputy leader of a Muslim group battling security forces in northern Nigeria was among dozens of people killed after troops shelled their base in the city of Maiduguri, military officials said.
Heavy fighting was reported overnight into Thursday as the army attacked a compound and mosque used by the Boko Haram group.
'The deputy leader of the Taliban by the name Abubakar Shekau was in the early hours of today killed along with 200 followers by Nigerian troops,' a police officer told the AFP news agency.
The Nigerian government had vowed to hunt down members of the group after hundreds of people were killed following a series of apparently co-ordinated attacks on police in four northern states."