Nigerian troops kill 21 Boko Haram terrorists

ABUJA, Nigeria

Nigerian troops eliminated at least 21 Boko Haram terrorists in clashes in the northeast, the army said on Sunday.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Yerima said in a statement that an operation was carried out against the terror group in the Geidem region of Yobe state.

Several members of the terror group were wounded but managed to escape, he said.

Weapons and ammunition belonging to the terrorists and a significant amount of ammunition were also destroyed, he added.

Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a military response.

More than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade of Boko Haram's terror activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence committed by Boko Haram has affected 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar