ABUJA: At least 50 militants were killed by Nigerian troops in various anti-terror operations in the northern part of the country in the past two weeks, the military said on Thursday.
Musa Danmadami, a spokesman for the military, told reporters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, that over 50 victims of kidnapping in the northwest and northeast regions of the country were also rescued during the period.
Danmadami said various land and air operations aimed at routing out remnants of the militant groups across the regions, including the northeastern state of Borno where the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the outlawed Boko Haram groups are still holding sway. The military official said between Nov. 4 and Nov. 5, key members of the ISWAP were killed in air bombardments around the Bama local government area of Borno, including Ali Kwaya and Mallam Bukar Mainoka, two known terrorist commanders in that part of the country.
Also, a total of 250 Boko Haram and ISWAP militants, and their families, surrendered to troops at different locations in the northeast region during the period, Danmadami added. The ISWAP has been collaborating with its sister group Boko Haram to establish an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria. The groups have also extended their attacks to other countries in the Lake Chad Basin. Xinhua