A top Boko Haram commander was among many insurgents killed on Sunday as soldiers fought to rescue nine children being trained at a secret camp, a Nigerian official said on Monday.
The Nigerian spokesman Brig.Gen.Sani Usman said Monday that soldiers battled Boko Haram extremists in Jarawa village in Borno state, killing a large number of the rebels, including Abu Nazir, who was on the Military’s wanted list, This according to Associated Press.
Nine abducted children were also rescued by the soldiers in the operation. The nine are now being given preliminary humanitarian assistance.
According to the army spokesperson the children will then be taken to a displaced persons camp in Kala Balge, about 150km west of Maiduguri.
Boko Haram sometimes uses kidnapped girls and boys to carry out suicide attacks.
Since the insurgency started in 2009, it has killed 20,000 and displaced 2.3 million from their homes.
Boko Haram was ranked as the world’s deadliest terror group by the Global Terrorism Index in 2015
