More than 300 Boko Haram fighters killed in Nigeria
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More than 300 Boko Haram fighters have been killed in military operations in north-east Nigeria, the army says.A number of militants had also been captured and weapons and equipment seized, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said.
Two soldiers lost their lives and 10 were wounded during the operation in Borno state, he added. The deaths have not been independently verified.Meanwhile, its reported that up to 30 people have died in an air strike in Niger.
They were attending a funeral ceremony at a village near the Nigerian border when an unidentified plane began dropping bombs, local officials and humanitarian sources said.
It is not yet clear who was responsible for the bombardment, but Nigeria has denied responsibility.”It’s not to my knowledge and there has not been any report from our people of such an incident,” said Dele Alonge, a spokesman for Nigeria’s air force.
‘Desperate response’
Niger has been the target of bombings in the past, blamed on Boko Haram since it widened its brutal insurgency.Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed during the group’s campaign for a breakaway Islamic state.
Niger, Chad and Cameroon have recently formed a military coalition with Nigeria to help combat the threat.Nigerian forces have been accused of overstating enemy casualties in the past.
But the two-day operation against militants in Borno State had inflicted “massive casualties”, Mr Olukolade said.He told the BBC he was not surprised Boko Haram was continuing to carry out attacks despite “heat” from coalition troops.
“What you see are elements of their desperate response to the ongoing onslaught on their various camps and locations.”It is expected and it will be contained accordingly,” he added.-Africa Metro
