In brief: Militants ousted from Nigerian town, village

LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigerian troops have ousted Boko Haram from a northeastern town while Cameroon soldiers killed several of the extremists in an attack on a Nigerian village, military officials reported Monday of the latest successes in a multinational bid to curb the Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria.

“FLASH: Nigerian troops have this afternoon routed terrorists from Bama … Mopping up operation is ongoing,” the Nigerian Defense Headquarters announced on Twitter, referring to a town held by the insurgents for more than six months.

An earlier tweet Monday said they had “completed clearing terrorists out of Goniri” in neighboring Yobe state.

By last week, the regional offensive that began at the end of January had liberated 36 towns, Mike Omeri, the Nigerian government spokesman on the insurgency, said Wednesday.

Cameroon Col. Jacob Kodji said forces from his country attacked Boko Haram militants from Borno state’s Ndaba village on Thursday and Friday, killing several of the extremists and destroying some of their vehicles and ammunition.

Boko Haram this month joined the Islamic State group in the Middle East, which last week urged fighters to go to its “West Africa Province.” This has increased fears about the internationalization of a conflict that for nearly six years has been largely limited to northeast Nigeria.

Some 10,000 people were killed in Nigeria’s Islamic uprising last year, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

L.A. policeman charged with human smuggling

SAN DIEGO – A Los Angeles police officer has been charged with smuggling a Mexican man into the country in the trunk of an SUV.

A federal complaint filed Monday says 34-year-old Carlos Quezada Jr. tried to enter the U.S. at San Diego’s Otay Mesa port of entry.

He and a 31-year-old female passenger were arrested Saturday night after an X-ray machine alerted border inspectors to a man hiding in the spare tire area of a Nissan Juke.

Los Angeles police spokeswoman Rosario Herrera said Quezada has worked at the department for 10 years and is assigned to the Hollywood division. He is on paid leave until the investigation is completed.

A judge set Quezada’s bond at $20,000 and appointed an attorney, David Silldorf, who declined a request for comment.

Manatee numbers reach record in Florida waters

MIAMI – Manatees are wintering in Florida in record numbers, according to an annual survey by state biologists released Monday.

The count, conducted over two weeks in February, tallied 6,063 manatees statewide, about a thousand more than the previous high set in 2010, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Brandon Basino.

The news is a welcome relief from 2013, when 828 manatee deaths marked a new low for the endangered mammal, officials said.