Nigeria neutralizes 73 Boko Haram terrorists

By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - Nigerian troops eliminated at least 73 Boko Haram terrorists during clashes in the country’s northeast, a military spokesperson said Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Bernard Onyeuku, director of Defense Media Operations, told reporters that the army carried out operations against the terror group in various parts of Borno state between June 18-30.

Onyeuku said that weapons, vehicles and ammunition belonging to the terrorist organization were also seized.

He said 55 people abducted by the terrorist group, including 27 children, were also rescued during the operations.

Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a military response.

More than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade of Boko Haram's terror activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence committed by Boko Haram has affected 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

*Wriitng by Seda Sevencan