The Nigerian army says its men have rescued 138 women, 192 children and eight men from insurgents around Sambisa forest.
According to Sani Usman, army spokesman, troops also killed 30 insurgents in an operation to clear some communities in Borno state of Boko Haram.
“Troops of 28 task force brigade Nigerian army deployed at Bitta and Pridang carried out a successful raid on suspected Boko Haram terrorists camps at Bulajilin and Manawashe villages along Bita and Damboa road at the fringes of Sambisa forest on Tuesday. The troops were able to killed 30 Boko Haram terrorists,” Usman said.
“The unit also rescued 338 persons that were held captive by the terrorists in the enclaves. The rescued persons, who comprised male 8, female 138 and children 192, have since been evacuated to Mubi. Troops also recovered arms and ammunitions during the raid operation, which include 1 general purpose machine gun and 2 dane guns, 150 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO), 6 boxes of 7.62mm (NATO) and 3 cutlasses.”
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He further said that troops, acting on a tip off, ambushed and killed four suspected Boko Haram insurgents on a suicide bombing mission to Gubula, Madagali local government area in Adamawa state.
“Apart from two AK-47 rifles recovered, the troops also recovered some unexploded ordinances (UXOs), mortar bombs and cash sum of N153,385k was retrieved,” Usman added.
“It is worthy to note that the raid operation on the Boko Haram terrorists enclave coincided with the chief of army staff’s operational visit to the brigade headquarters in Mubi.
“The successful clearance operations and ambushing of the terrorists has further degraded them and saved the lives of so many innocent victims of their suicide bombings.
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“Having appealed and given the terrorists final warning, we would like to state that from now on [that] troops, within bounds of respect for human rights and rules of engagement, shall continue to decisively deal with Boko Haram terrorists until they are defeated.
“Therefore, we are appealing for continued vigilance, security consciousness and above all cooperation with the military and security agencies to enable us successfully defeat the terrorists.”
The freeing of the captives is one in a series successful attempts to rescue women and children held by Boko Haram in the northeast.
Despite some of these successful attempts at freeing captives, 219 schoolgirls abducted from their hostel on April 14, 2014 have still not been rescued.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is willing to negotiate with the insurgents for the release of the girls. But Boko Haram has insisted that it is not ready for a negotiation with the government.
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