Military wives block husbands\\\' deployment against Boko Haram

MAIDUGURI, Aug 12 (AP): Military wives in the restive Nigerian city of Maiduguri have taken to the streets this week, burning tyres to prevent their husbands' deployment to fight Boko Haram.

About 300 women and 500 children have for two days gathered at the gates of a military base in the Borno state capital, claiming that their spouses were ill-equipped to take on the Islamist militants.

Boko Haram has been waging a brutal insurgency since 2009 which has left thousands of people dead, despite a state of emergency imposed in three northeast states since May 2013 and a troop surge.