Nigeria calls for US help

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for more US help in fighting Boko Haram, as the Islamists struck again yesterday and called for a boycott of upcoming general elections.

The head of state for the first time claimed direct links between the Sunni radicals who have been waging a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

He told the Wall Street Journal in an interview: "Are they (the United States) not fighting ISIS? Why can't they come to Nigeria?

"They are our friends. If Nigeria has a problem, then I expect the US to come and assist us."

But Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said there are no plans to send US troops to Nigeria.

Kirby said the United States was in the early phases of helping establish a multi-national task force of African nations to help Nigeria defeat Boko Haram.

Jonathan's comments were published as hundreds of Islamist fighters invaded the northeastern city of Gombe, firing heavy guns and throwing leaflets calling for locals to shun the elections.

The attack, which began at about 9:00am, saw residents flee and the authorities impose a 24-hour lock-down in the city, which Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted.

Boko Haram has opened up two new fronts in its campaign to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, pushing into neighbouring Niger last week and for the first time on Friday, Chad.

It has also increased the frequency and intensity of its attacks on northern Cameroon. The increasing regional threat has led to the deployment of troops from all three countries, reflecting security fears.

Jonathan and his government have long sought to portray, the insurgency as being fuelled by outside forces and he has previously called Boko Haram "Al-Qaeda in west Africa".

Critics have interpreted his attempt to blame foreigners for the violence that has left more than 13,000 dead and displaced more than one million since 2009 as a diversion from national failings.

Boko Haram, which loosely translates from the Hausa language widely spoken in northern Nigeria as "Western education is forbidden", started out in 2002 as a largely peaceful Islamist movement.

But it has been transformed in the last six years from a rag-tag group of guerrilla fighters into a conventional army, seizing territory and dozens of towns in three northeast Nigerian states.

The group has generally not been thought to have any direct operational links with overseas jihadis, although some fighters may have received training from al-Qaeda-linked militants in north Africa.