Nigerian Army Frees 101 Children, 77 Adults From Boko Haram

Nigerian troops have rescued at least 178 hostages from Boko Haram following a military operation over the weekend that dismantled a number of the group’s camps in northeastern Borno State, according to an army spokesman.

“Your brothers fought against the tawaghit by attacking their barracks”, the speaker says, using an Arabic word for “infidel” or “idolater”. “Many” Islamists were killed, the military said, without elaborating.

State police commissioner Aderemi Opadokun confirmed the attack but gave a lower toll. It has also been blamed for deadly attacks in neighbouring countries.

An army order received Sunday by the AP requires all accused and condemned soldiers to northern Kaduna town for a committee starting August 7 “to screen and assess all disciplinary cases arising from erstwhile Op Zaman Lafiya” against Boko Haram.

Boko Haram’s bloody insurgency in Nigeria alone has left greater than 15,000 individuals lifeless since 2009.

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

Some of those rescued last week said they had been held by Boko Haram for up to one year in villages just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Maiduguri.

“There is nobody in Gamboru”, he told AFP.

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.

The air raids came as Nigeria and its neighbors prepare to launch a new multinational force to combat Boko Haram, in the face of the group’s escalating violence in the region.

The force was supposed to start operations on July 31 but has been dogged by a lack of funding and political will.