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Nigeria: Army frees over 5,000 people held by Boko Haram
Nigeria’s army on Sunday said it had freed more than 5,000 people held by the al-Qaeda-linked group Boko Haram during an operation over the weekend in the northeast of the country.
Nigeria’s army has over the last year, sometimes working with troops from neighboring countries, recaptured most of the territory that was lost to the group, which has waged a 7-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state in the remote northeast.
The army said troops, supported by members of a grassroots security force, conducted raids in 15 villages on Sunday.
“The troops also liberated over 5,000 persons held hostage by Boko Haram terrorists,” it said in an emailed statement.
More than 15,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced in Nigeria and neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon during Boko Haram’s insurgency.
However, the jihadist group, which last year pledged loyalty to Islamic State, still regularly stages suicide bombings, mainly in crowded areas such as markets and places of worship.
Source: Reuters