A military offensive in northeast Nigeria that
killed more than 50 Islamist rebels has
destroyed four villages and left corpses
scattered in bushes, with some civilians
among the dead, witnesses said Tuesday.
The defence ministry has said the operation
was launched in response to an attack Friday
by Boko Haram insurgents on an army
barracks in the town of Bama in Borno state,
the epicentre of the Islamist conflict.
Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade identified
those killed as “terrorists.”
Residents told AFP that an unknown number
of civilians also lost their lives as the military
bombarded the fleeing rebels. While they
reported finding scores of charred bodies in
the area, many were thought to be those of
Boko Haram fighters.
Area resident Karim Bunu told AFP the
military onslaught “completely burnt down
four villages,” specifically listing Awaram, Ali-
Ali, Suwabara and Kashimri, all in Borno
state.
“Civilians from the affected villages,” were
among those killed, he said.
“We have never seen so much death,” added a
tribal chief in the area, who asked that his
name be withheld. “The bushes are littered
with decomposing bodies.”
Bunu, the local chief and other residents said
much of the destruction was caused by bombs
dropped by fighter jets. Locals are collecting
bodies and digging graves for those killed,
residents added.
In a Monday statement on the operation,
Olukolade said that “a good number of the
insurgents escaped with bullet wounds while
some have been arrested. Over 50 of them
died in the course of exchange of fire with
ground troops.”
Fifteen soldiers were killed during the Boko
Haram raid on the barracks and “during the
pursuit” of the insurgents, according to
Olukolade.
The defence spokesman gave no indication
that the military response caused large-scale
property destruction or cost civilian lives.
Nigeria’s military has been accused of using
scorched-earth tactics in campaigns against
Boko Haram and not distinguishing between
civilian and insurgent targets. Such
accusations have however been typically
denied.
According to multiple witness accounts, Boko
Haram stormed the barracks before sunrise on
Friday, spraying it with gunfire before torching
the compound. There were reports that
soldiers as well as wives and children were
abducted in the raid.
The army said the Islamists had tried to
escape across the border with Cameroon but
were pursued through the weekend by ground
troops with the support of fighter jets
deployed from an air force base in Borno’s
capital Maiduguri, some 60 kilometres (37
miles) away.
Borno and two neighbouring states were
placed under a state of emergency in May,
giving the military added powers in their bid
to crush Boko Haram’s four-year uprising
which has killed thousands.
The conflict has affected various parts of the
north and centre of Nigeria, but the northeast
has been the hit hardest, including
communities near Bama, which has emerged
as a hotspot in the insurgency.
Boko Haram has said it wants to create an
Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim
north. The southern half of the country is
mostly Christian. [AFP]
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