(AFP) – Nigeria’s army said Friday it had killed 74 suspected Boko Haram fighters in a raid in northeastern Borno state, as gunmen from the Islamist group battled security forces in a neighbouring area.
The army, which is battling to crush a four-year Islamist uprising in Nigeria, said it deployed bombs and ground troops to destroy insurgent camps in Borno on Thursday.
Army spokesman Mohammed Dole said that “74 suspected militants” were killed in the assault outside the Borno capital Maiduguri, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago.
The operation followed an assault Monday on Boko Haram camps in another part of Borno, which the military said left 37 Islamists dead.
In a separate outbreak of violence, suspected Islamist fighters stormed the city of Damaturu in coordinated raids on Thursday, burning at least four police buildings, said a senior police officer who requested anonymity.
The officer said there were casualties from the attack, which will be seen as a setback in the campaign to end the insurgency.
The military had claimed an offensive launched more than four months ago had put Boko Haram on the defensive and left it incapable of attacking major urban centres like Damaturu.
Figures released earlier this year said the conflict had cost more than 3,600 lives, including killings by the security forces. The current toll is certainly much higher.
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