60 killed in Nigerian army operation, including commander
More than 60 militants, including a top commander, have been killed in a Nigerian army operation. The army has been carrying out air and ground operations in the northeastern heartland of the country in the midst of an insurgency that has raged since 2009. AFP reports.
Troops carried out two separate operations on Boko Haram and rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) camps early on Friday (May 30).
The army said in a statement that several militants were killed in the operation on a Boko Haram camp in the village of Beta outside the town of Goja in Borno state, near the Cameroon border.
A statement on the military operation called Beta said at least 60 militants were killed after intense fighting.
On the other hand, two intelligence sources confirmed the air strikes on Boko Haram camps in the villages of Beta and Kareto in the Abadam district, near the Niger border.
In a separate statement, the military said that Boko Haram commander in Kukawa district, Emir Abu Fatima, was seriously injured in a gunfight with troops. Abu Fatima was on the Nigerian army’s wanted list, with a reward of 100 million naira ($62,500) for his death.
