NIGER

The news of the militants surrendering Friday was confirmed in a statement by a Nigerian army representative.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions, they bore the hallmarks of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Last weekend, 22,000 people arrived in Germany by train, but less than a third will gain official refugee status and be allowed to stay.

“As I am speaking to you, all the terrorists’ camps have completely been wiped out," Nigerian Defense spokesman Col. Rabe Abubakar said Wednesday.

The International Organization For Migration attributed the increased number of displaced people to the recent spike in Boko Haram attacks.

The Sunday tragedy follows another that occurred Thursday, in which 200 people may have perished.

Ghanaian officials say the Islamic State has recruited two students and targeted universities in the country.

A security official in the western town of Zuwara, from where the overcrowded boat had set off, said there were around 400 people on board.

His visit comes after suspected Boko Haram militants ambushed a convoy carrying the country’s army chief.

Cameroon is intensifying its campaign against Boko Haram by more than tripling its overall military force.

Targeted killings and widespread neglect of an ethnic group in the African country is fueling a violent movement that could spread across the region.

Despite recent efforts to nourish the nation's children, nearly 1,000 die from malnutrition-related causes every day. That's 361,000 each year.

Al Qaeda militants in Mali are making it difficult for the United Nations to do its job.

Nigeria's Adamawa state has earmarked more than $1 million for "prayer warriors" to seek divine intervention against the violent insurgents.

Retired Col. Sambo Dasuki said the previous administration recaptured land from militants and stopped their leader from disrupting elections.

The Nigerian army cleared the bombs planted along a road in Borno state which led out from the northeastern town of Gwoza, Boko Haram's former headquarters.

Spokesman Colonel Tukur Gusau said in an emailed statement that 101 of the those freed were children, 67 were women and the rest were men.

Boko Haram's insurgency has killed more 15,000 people since 2009, in Nigeria and neighboring countries.

"Certain regimes" left the nation's army underfunded and underequipped to take on the insurgent group, says Alex Badeh, who was sacked last month.

Cameroon and Nigeria soothed tensions this week and vowed to improve military cooperation on Boko Haram, but the two countries failed to provide specifics.

Chad said on Thursday its forces had killed 117 Boko Haram insurgents during a two-week military campaign aimed at clearing islands on Lake Chad used by the militants as hideouts and bases to launch attacks.