*Joint military operation with US killed 175 ISWAP fighters in May
By Ola Kay
The Nigerian army declared that it has rescued more than 360 people abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents earlier this year in the northeast.
According to a report by Aljazeera, the military said in a statement on Sunday the rescue operation took place in a Boko Haram stronghold in the south of Borno state.
The report stated that the Nigerian forces besieged the Mandara mountains where Boko Haram fighters held hundreds of people “under harsh conditions.”
Spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Haruna Sani said: “The remaining rescued abductees were successfully evacuated to safe locations for medical care and humanitarian support, marking a major operational success and a significant setback for the terrorist group,”
The statement by the military authorities informed that troops had gathered intelligence and used “psychological operations” to plant “mistrust within the insurgent ranks” before “the commencement of the assault phase”.
The report was silent on whether the army completed the arrests, but it stated that many of the Boko Haram fighters fled into the surrounding mountains as others surrendered.
Aljazeera added that a Borno senator and local youth leader confirmed the captives freedom to the AFP news agency on Saturday, but said the group included more than 400 people.
The insurgents had demanded millions of Nigerian naira in ransom for the release of captives.
The Nigerian government also informed that a joint military operation with the United States had killed 175 ISWAP fighters last month.
In middle of last month, the Nigerian and US presidents announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as ISIL’s second-in-command.
Series of attacks Boko Haram and other terrorist groups have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of people and forcibly displaced at least two million from their home settlements.
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