LAGOS
The army said Friday that its troops had killed up to 13 Boko Harm militants in raids on the group's "entry and escape points" near Nigeria's borders with Cameroon.
In an email to media on Friday evening, army spokesman Chris Olukolade said the raids – which targeted "the terrorists' makeshift camps between Borno and Adamawa" – had ended with the arrest of several "fleeing" militants.
He did not, however, mention the number of militants arrested.
He also said troops had been deployed to "block the entry and exit points used by terrorists to enter the country."
According to Olukolade, normalcy has returned to the village of Shuwa in the Madagali local government area, where an attack on Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako was reported earlier Friday.
The past four days have reportedly seen several Boko Haram attacks across the northeastern Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
Up to 100 people have been killed in recent days as militants stepped up attacks in the Nigerian hinterlands.
Boko Haram, a hitherto peaceful organization that had preached against corruption, suddenly turned violent in 2009 following the murder of group leader Mohamed Yusuf while in police custody.
In the years since, the group has been blamed for thousands of terrorist acts, including attacks on churches and security posts across Nigeria's northern region.
Although it claims to want an Islamist government in the region, Nigerian Muslims – most of whom reject Boko Haram as un-Islamic – have also been targeted by the militant group.
On Friday, the government announced that it remained in "a state of war" with the Boko Haram insurgency, which presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe said appeared to enjoy foreign support.
By Rafiu Ajakaye
englishnews@aa.com.tr
