RSS Feeds  Specifics elusive in Nigeria's extremist fight
Friday - 6/7/2013, 3:58am  ET   Associated Press  MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria (AP) -- Military commanders promised a tour of this
northeast Nigeria city, the birthplace of the nation's Islamic
extremist insurgency, to show the busy streets and people
selling fruits from wheelbarrows pressed right up against the
road.   These two visions of Maiduguri, a bustling state capital
by day and an eerie ghost town of barking stray dogs and empty
streets by 8 p.m., represents the difficulty of knowing what
exactly is happening as Nigeria's military continues its
offensive against the extremists.  While the military presents
an optimistic view about the gains they've made, they
continually refuse to offer any specifics about the ongoing
fighting. But with mobile phone networks shut down in the
region, it is only their word that gets publicized by the
nation's newspapers and broadcasters in this shadow war.  "The
operation is still on and the information is being collated