ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian troops killed 76 Islamic militants in the country’s northeast during operations conducted in various parts of Borno state, the military said Thursday.
The operations took place between Jan. 7 and Jan. 13, Nigerian army spokesperson Edward Buba said during a news conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. He added that the military also arrested 72 suspects and rescued eight hostages kidnapped by the militants.
Buba did not provide details about the extremists’ affiliation but the area of operations has long been plagued by attacks from the Boko Haram group and its breakaway faction that is loyal to the Islamic State group.
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The army spokesperson also did not specify if any members of the Nigerian military were killed during the operations.
The announcement by Nigeria’s military comes days after suspected Boko Haram militants killed at least 40 farmers in another part of Borno State.
Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict, now Africa’s longest struggle with militancy, has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.
Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced in the northeastern region, according to the U.N.
The 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in the village of Chibok in Borno state — the epicenter of the conflict — captured the attention of the world.
Nigeria’s military has also killed 64 extremists, arrested 69 suspects and rescued 62 hostages during other operations in the country’s northwest, Buba said Thursday.
Kidnappings have become a common occurrence in Nigeria’s northeast, where dozens of armed groups exploit the region’s limited security presence to carry out attacks on villages and along major roads. Many victims are only released after the payment of ransoms that sometimes run into the thousands of dollars.
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