04 April 2016•Update: 21 April 2016
LAGOS, Nigeria
At least 275 people, including a woman and her newborn child were rescued from Boko Haram hideouts in Nigeria's troubled northeast Borno state Sunday as Nigerian security forces intensified their operations in the region, the military announced in a statement Monday.
Fifteen suspected militants were also killed in the operation, the statement added.
According to Army spokesman Sani Usman, the captives were freed in Borno state’s Madawaya area.
"One of the rescued persons gave birth to a baby boy shortly after her liberation. Both mother and child are doing fine," Usman added.
He said troops cleared militants from Madawaya, Jere, Kardile, Koujili, Ngenere and Maksamari, as well as Douse, Bembem, Zombulum and Taraji villages.
He said the troops also discovered and destroyed an alleged Boko Haram Improvised Explosive Device-making factory in Bula Umara.
Nigeria has declared a "technical victory" over the insurgents, although it admits that the group continues to target soft targets in suicide bombings.
The defense headquarters also claimed to have arrested an alleged top militant affiliated with the Ansarul-Muslimeen, Khalid Al-Barnawy. Some top analysts, however, dismissed the news about Al-Barnawy's arrest as false.
