Nigerian forces have freed 178 captives held by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram during military operations in the country’s violence-plagued northeast, an army spokesman said Monday (August 3).
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Spokesman Colonel Tukur Gusau said in an emailed statement that a Boko Haram commander had also been captured and several militant camps were cleared around the town of Bama, about 70 km southeast of the state capital Maiduguri.
Thirty shop owners in Borno has been arrested for sponsoring Boko Haram operations in the state, Daily Post reports.
He maintained that many such attacks had occurred in Midigu, Lanssa, Immirsa, Kubula, Sabon Gari and Wagachakawa villages in the last five days, with scores feared killed by the insurgents. Lots of have been free of Boko Haram captivity this yr still none of the 219 girls kidnapped in April 2014 from a school in Chibok have been among the many rescued.
According to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, an unidentified fighter, shown in the video with looted army weapons and ammunition, says the footage shows Nigeria’s military has not forced Boko Haram from its positions and got them hemmed into the Sambisa Forest, as the military has claimed.
The video is gruesome, but its production sleek, suggesting that it was produced with the help of IS-allied propaganda units, said the BBC.
Local farmer Moha Saleh confirmed the death toll and said 27 people were wounded when the Islamists stormed the village. “Some had been shot in the back, which means they were fleeing when the terrorists killed them”, Musa said. “Our terrorised women and children fled into the bush and returned to Maiduguri this morning”, he added.
“The activities of fifth columnists in the military and other sensitive military information leaked to the terrorists, combined to make the fight against the insurgents particularly hard”.
The group also called on Muslims to reject the Muhammadu Buhari government.
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Residents in nearby villages said the militants had set fire to houses, sending columns of black smoke into the sky.
