Nigeria army recaptures northeastern town from Boko Haram

Nigerian army troops have recaptured a key town from the Boko Haram Takfiri militant group in the country’s crisis-stricken northeastern state of Borno, military sources say. 

Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, a Nigerian military spokesman said in a statement that the troops retook control of the strategic town of Gamboru Ngala on the border with neighboring Cameroon on Tuesday.

“The Nigerian army has retaken the economic and strategic town of Gamboru Ngala, Borno State, from the Boko Haram terrorist group today,” the statement read.

The military official also noted that the “triumphant” soldiers are now busy clearing and mopping up patrols in the border town.

On the night of 5-6 May 2014, Boko Haram militants attacked Gamboru Ngala and killed hundreds of people after surrounding and spraying the area with automatic gunfire. Local residents and witnesses said that at least 300 people had been killed in the 12-hour attack.

In August last year, Boko Haram attacked an army barracks in Gamboru Ngala and then captured the entire town.

Meanwhile, a member of youth vigilante forces in northern Nigeria said on Monday that the militant group had shot dead nearly 80 people after storming three villages in the same troubled state since Friday.

According to an AFP count, bombings as well as a wave of raids and attacks have left at least 1,000 people dead in Nigeria alone in less than three months.

The Boko Haram militancy began in 2009, when the terrorist group started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Amnesty International says 17,000 people have been killed since then.

The militancy has spilled over into Nigeria’s neighboring countries. Troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been battling the terrorists in recent months.

Nigeria’s neighbors, which have all suffered deadly raids by Boko Haram, set up a regional force earlier this year to end the violence and bloodshed.