Nigeria army rescues scores of people from Boko Haram

http://www.dw.com/en/nigeria-army-rescues-scores-of-people-from-boko-haram/a-18623178

Nigeria's army has reported rescuing more than 100 children from militant group Boko Haram. Neighboring Benin has pledged hundreds of troops to a regional force to fight the extremists.

Nigeria army rescues scores of people from Boko Haram
03.08.2015

In a statement emailed to media late Sunday, Nigerian army spokesman Colonel Tukur Gusau said of a total 178 people were rescued from Boko Haram in Borno state. The release stated 101 were children, 67 were women and 10 were men.

The spokesman added that several militant camps were cleared near the town of Bama, which lies about 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of the state capital Maiduguri.

"In addition, one Boko Haram terrorist commander was captured alive and is presently undergoing investigation," Colonel Tukur Gusau said.

Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to "Western education is forbidden," has been fighting an insurgency for the past six years in Nigeria's northeast, aiming to establish an Islamist state adhering to strict sharia law. Some 15,000 people have been killed in Nigeria alone and millions displaced in the ensuing violence. The group caused international outrage in 2014 when they kidnapped more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok. It's not believed the still-missing girls were among those reported rescued Sunday.