Nigerian troops have rescued 338 captives, nearly all children and women, from Boko Haram camps in a northeastern forest, the military said Wednesday, October 28, USA Today reports.
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Nigerian army spokesperson Colonel Sani Usman added that 30 Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the raid.
Separately, troops ambushed and killed four suspects on a bombing mission in the north-eastern Adamawa state, it said. If you happen to be in the Ministry of External Affairs and have suddenly been tasked with working on this project or are generally interested and have only heard of Boko Haram in context of a Twitter campaign, we’ve got the right video for you. In April, 2014 the organisation’s swung into worldwide limelight with the mass kidnapping of about 200 school girls, sparking a massive social media campaign on Twitter with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls being used more than five million times.
The air force said in a statement on Tuesday it had launched strikes on the group’s vehicle and fuel depots “in a renewed drive to further degrade” its assets.
Air force chief Sadique Abubakar was quoted as saying the strikes were helping “pave the way for the final onslaught” by ground forces.
Who are Nigeria’s Boko Haram terrorists?
More than 17,000 people have died as a result of Boko Haram’s insurgency, more than 2.5million people have been displaced. The group’s members were also suspects in a bombing there that killed seven people earlier this month.
Boko Haram has also carried out deadly cross-border attacks in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Jubilant civilians who participated in the Tuesday night assault said they went to the Madagali and Gwoza areas acting on intelligence that the extremists were planning a large attack. The violence has spilled over into Nigeria’s neighboring countries.
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A multi-national force from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin is set to deploy to fight the insurgents.
