Nigerian army kills 20 Boko Haram insurgents in Borno

ANKARA (AA) - Nigerian troops have killed 20 insurgents of the Boko Haram/the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) militant groups in Borno state, an NGO official announced on Monday.

“Troops killed 20 #BokoHaram/#ISWAP insurgents near Baga town, Borno state, yesterday 17 May, #Nigerian military reports,” Nnamdi Obasi from International Crisis Group (ICG) said on Twitter.

“Defence spokesman Maj Gen John Enenche says troops captured 6 AK-47 rifles, 520 rounds of ammunition and hand grenades, with 9 soldiers wounded but none lost,” he added.

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 terrorist activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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