By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
Several Boko Haram insurgents were reportedly killed Wednesday when Nigerian army troops cleared two militant hideouts in the northeastern Bauchi State.
"During the operations which started since last weekend, quite a number of terrorists were killed, their weapons and equipments destroyed," army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement.
"Similarly, a sizable number of arms, ammunitions, food stuffs, Hillux vehicles, motorcycles and improvised explosive devices were recovered by the troops," he added.
The spokesman described the clearing of the militant hideouts as a "huge relief" as the forest had been used as a launching pad for attacks on different towns.
Nigeria continues to fight a six-year insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over one million people from the northeastern region, where the militancy has been most ruthless.
In mid-2014, Boko Haram declared a self-styled "Islamic caliphate" in areas under its control with its headquarters in Gwoza, a hilly town in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State.
But Nigerian troops – joined by troops from Niger, Chad and Cameroon – have recently rolled back the gains made by the militants, liberating several Boko Haram-held towns and launching fontal attacks on the group's hideouts.
