Nigerian army says 5,000 held by Boko Haram freed

Troops conducted raids in 15 villages, says army

Nigeria's army yesterday said it had freed more than 5,000 people held by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram during an operation at the weekend in the northeast.

Over the last year Nigeria’s army, sometimes aided by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of the territory that was lost to the group, which has waged a seven-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 yesterday, during which they “killed six Boko Haram terrorists and wounded several others”.

“The troops also liberated over 5,000 persons held hostages by Boko Haram terrorists,” it said in an emailed statement. Reuters could not immediately independently verify the freeing of the hostages, in part due to the remoteness of the area in which the military operation took place.

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More than 15,000 people have been killed and two million displaced in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon during Boko Haram's insurgency. – (Reuters)