Nigeria: 61 Rescued from Boko Haram Captivity

Local Editor

Nigeria's army said its forces have rescued 61 civilians from captivity by the Takfiri Boko Haram group in the country's northeast. Media reports mentioned that the army also killed four suspected Boko Haram terrorist members during the operation.

The operation to free the abductees was backed by aerial cover in the violence-rattled Borno state, the army said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the reports, the rescued persons were mainly women and children.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various Nigerian parts since the beginning of its militancy in 2009.

The violence waged by the group has killed at least 17,000 people and forced more than 2.5 million to flee their homes since that year.

Earlier last year, Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 female students from their secondary school in the town of Chibok in Borno state in April. Reports say that since then 57 of the girls have managed to escape but 219 of them remain in captivity.

The Nigerian army claimed a string of successes against the militants in recent months. In early August, the army said it had freed 178 people, including more than 100 children, following an operation near Aulari town, about 70 kilometers south of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team