Nigerian army kills 150 Boko Harem militants
Iran Press TV
Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:3PM GMT
The Nigerian military says its forces have killed about 150 Boko Haram militants in an operation carried out in the country’s northeast.
According to army spokesman, Ibrahim Attahiru, scores of militants were killed at a camp in the state of Borno on September 12.
"The army raided the camp on September 12. Some 150 Boko Haram terrorists were killed, while the military lost 16 soldiers. Nine soldiers are still missing," Attahiru said on Wednesday.
"It was a highly fortified insurgent camp with heavy weapons in (northeastern) Borno State," Attahiru added.
The operation was launched by the military in response to a deadly ambush by the militants earlier this month, which left 40 Nigerian soldiers dead and many others missing.
In May 2013, the Nigerian government imposed a state of emergency in three states in the northeast, saying Boko Haram had become a security threat in those states.
Boko Haram says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.
The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.
Over the past four years, violence in the north of Africa's most populous country has claimed the lives of 3,600 people, including killings by the security forces.
SZH/KA/SS
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