Nigeria’s army claimed to have freed nearly 180 hostages —
including more than 100 children — held by Boko Haram
jihadists in a dramatic weekend rescue.
The operation which led to the capture of a Boko Haram
commander, an army spokesman said in a statement late
Sunday. The military said earlier that it had killed a “large
number” of the extremists in air strikes in the northeast.
The operation took place on Sunday near Aulari, about 70
kilometres (40 miles) south of Maiduguri, the capital of
Borno state, once a jihadist stronghold.
“During the offensive operations, 178 people held captive by
the terrorists were rescued,” military spokesman Colonel
Tukur Gusau said, without specifying when the rescue took
place.
“They include 101 children, 67 women and 10 men.”
The Nigerian military has announced the release of
hundreds of people held by Boko Haram in recent months,
especially in the notorious Sambisa forest, a longtime
Islamist stronghold.
The air strikes hit the village of Bita on the fringes of the
forest not far from the Cameroonian border, where Boko
Haram was preparing to launch an offensive, the military
said. “Many” Islamists were killed, it added.
Sunday’s rescue came after several attacks by Boko Haram
in recent days. Thirteen people were killed in an assault on
Malari village about 20 kilometres from Maiduguri.
– ‘They set houses ablaze’ –
Local farmer Moha Saleh confirmed the death toll and said
27 people were wounded when the Islamists stormed the
village.
“They also set many houses ablaze after accusing us of
telling soldiers their whereabouts,” he told AFP.
Local resident Goni Musa, a vigilante who fights Boko
Haram alongside the Nigerian military, gave the same death
toll.
“This morning 13 bodies were recovered. Some had been
shot in the back, which means they were fleeing when the
terrorists killed them,” Musa said.
“They burnt down houses and shops before they left, yelling
‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest). Our terrorised women and
children fled into the bush and returned to Maiduguri this
morning,” he added.
State police commissioner Aderemi Opadokun confirmed
the attack but gave a lower toll, saying seven people had
been killed.
Malari has been the target of numerous attacks in recent
months, including a suicide bombing by a youth in a mosque
in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in July
which left 12 people dead.
– Regional force shapes up –
Boko Haram has increasingly expanded its operations into
neighbouring countries in recent months, prompting Nigeria,
Cameroon, Chad and Niger to launch a coordinated military
fightback.
The four countries, along with Benin, are preparing to launch
a new 8,700-strong force that officials say will go into action
soon.
Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou on Sunday vowed
that the new regional force would “eradicate” the insurgents.
“The multinational joint force will eradicate… the blind
terrorism of Boko Haram,” Issoufou said in a televised
speech.
The jihadist group has stepped up its attacks since
Nigeria’s new President Muhammadu Buhari took office in
May, unleashing a wave of violence that has claimed 800
lives in just two months.
Witnesses said the group attacked the town of Gamboru on
Saturday, near the border with Cameroon.
Residents in nearby villages said the militants had set fire to
houses, sending columns of black smoke into the sky.
Umar Babakalli, a refugee from Gamboru who fled to the
nearby Cameroonian town of Fotokol several months ago,
said he saw fighter jets circling overhead “but there was no
sign of any bombardment”.
It was not immediately clear if anyone had been killed in
Gamboru but Babakalli said the town, which has faced
repeated Boko Haram assaults, was deserted. “There is
nobody in Gamboru,” he told AFP.
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I really hope this story is true