The Nigerian military said on Monday
that a two month old offensive in the northeast had “substantially achieved”
the aim of destroying Islamist bases, as well as killing or capturing a number
of fighters and freeing victims of abductions.
Soldiers walk through Hausari
village during a military patrol near Maiduguri
In a statement, defence spokesman
Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade also said 23 women and 35 children being held
on charges of aiding Islamist militant group Boko Haram had been released as a
gesture of peace to its more moderate sympathizers.
Nigerian forces are carrying out
their most concerted effort yet to end a four-year insurgency that has left
thousands dead – many of them killed in gun or bomb attacks – and destabilized
swathes of the north of Africa’s top oil producer.
“The mandate to the forces involves
the destruction of all terrorist camps and apprehension of perpetrators,” Mr
Olukolade said. “This mandate has been substantially achieved with destruction
of terrorists’ strongholds. A number of terrorists have been apprehended … Many
of them have died in battle.”
Boko Haram, which is fighting for an
Islamic state in religiously-mixed Nigeria, have in the past proved masters of
resurrecting themselves after apparent defeat.
Nigerian authorities thought they
were finished after a 2009 crackdown left 800 dead, including the sect’s
founder Mohammed Yusuf, but they came back stronger than ever, developing ties
with al-Qaeda linked militants in the Sahara.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared
a state of emergency on May 14, ordering extra troops into the northeast after
reports Boko Haram had taken over large stretches of the remote semi-desert
region.
Since then, security sources say the
number of attacks has dropped sharply, although a spate of deadly attacks on
schools showed the sect can still inflict mayhem.
Mr Olukolade said the destruction of
bases in Nigeria had pushed the militants back inside northeast Nigeria’s
cities, like Maiduguri, where many had been seized in cordon and search
operations.
On Sunday, Nigerian forces said they
had uncovered a vast network of underground tunnels connecting houses and
bunkers in the Maiduguri area of Bulabulin, as well as some collective graves
of people killed by the militants. Mr Olukolade said some of the bunkers could
accommodate over 100 people.
Critics say no amount of military
force will solve the underlying issues driving the insurgency, such as the
North’s poverty and sense of political exclusion, but efforts to dialogue with
the sect have failed to get a positive response.
The authorities had also arrested
the parents-in-law of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
On Saturday Mr Shekau uploaded a
defiant Internet video vowing never to “dialogue with a government that is
corrupt and using the book of pagans (Bible) to run itself,” a swipe at the
fact that Mr Jonathan’s administration is dominated by southern Christians like
himself.
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