Nigeria Boko Haram crisis: Army rescues 178 people

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian troops rescued 178 people from Boko Haram in attacks that destroyed several camps of the Islamic extremists in the northeast of the country, an army statement said Sunday.

The rescue befell close to Aulari about 70 kilometres (forty miles) south of Maiduguri, the most important city in northeast Nigeria, he stated, with out specifying when the operation was carried out.

Photos released by the army showed open trucks packed full of women, children and elderly men.

JERUSALEM – Israel’s security Cabinet approved new measures Sunday against Israelis who attack Palestinians, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will have “zero tolerance” for Jewish extremists.

The Nigerian military has been attacking Boko Haram strongholds in the Northern regions of Nigeria and claims to have made inroads into the militants’ territory.

Nigeria and its other neighbors – Cameroon, Chad and Niger – have all pledged troops to the force, which is expected to number some 8,700 troops and be headquartered in Chad.

Boko Haram – also known as ISWAP – jihadists allegedly stormed a village in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno early on Sunday, killing 13 residents and injuring 27 more, including women and children, AFP news agency reports.

He further disclosed that “one Boko Haram Terrorists Commander was captured alive and is presently undergoing interrogation”.

A young female suicide bomber killed 12 worshippers in a Malari mosque in early July during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, AFP reported at the time.

“The multinational joint force will allow eradication… of the blind terrorism of Boko Haram“, Issoufou said in a televised speech Sunday.

The group declared an Islamic caliphate in Gwoza, along the Cameroon border, in August 2014.

Residents in nearby villages said the militants had set fire to houses, sending columns of black smoke into the sky.

More than 13,000 people have been killed in six years of fighting in the country.